LIBRJVRY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 

Class 


iHoDem  Belfgfou0  ptobltm^ 

EDITED    BY 

AMBROSE   WHITE   VERNON 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/earlyreligionofiOOpatorich 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION 
OF  ISRAEL 


BY 


LEWIS  BAYLES  PATON,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

NITTLETON    PROFESSOR    OF    OLD    TESTAMENT    EXEGESIS    AND    CRITICISM 
IN    HARTFORD   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


BOSTON   AND   NEW   YORK 
HOUGHTON   MIFFLIN   COMPANY 

1910 


y 


f? 


COPYRIGHT,  I9IO,  BY  LEWIS  BAYLBS  PATON 
ALL  RIGHTS  RSSERVBD 


^^Mm^. 


'eptemher  jqjo 


CONTENTS 

I.  The  Primitive  Semitic  Period  i 

II.  The  Patriarchal  Period  21 

III.  The  Mosaic  Period  36 

IV.  The  Period  of  the  Conqjjest  of  Ca- 

naan 55 

V.  The  Period  of  the  Early  Monarchy  62 


204131 


^     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION 
OF  ISRAEL 

I 

THE   PRIMITIVE    SEMITIC   PERIOD 

In  the  Book  of  Genesis  the  Hebrews 
first  appear  as  a  nomadic  race  entering  Ca- 
naan from  the  east.  From  the  period  prior 
to  this  migration  no  records  or  traditions 
have  come  down  to  us;  nevertheless,  by 
means  of  the  sciences  of  comparative  phil- 
ology and  comparative  religion  it  is  possible 
to  gain  considerable  information  concern- 
ing the  theology  of  that  remote  age.  In  lan- 
guage, customs,  and  beliefs  the  Hebrews 
were  closely  akin  to  the  Canaanites,  Ara- 
maeans, Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Arabs, 
Ethiopians,  and  other  races  that  are  grouped 
I 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

by  ethnologists  under  the  general  name  of 
"  Semitic.'' '  Ideas  and  institutions  that  are 
found  among  all  these  races  must  have  been 
possessed  by  their  forefathers  in  the  prim- 
itive home  in  the  Arabian  desert,  where 
they  dwelt  together  before  their  dispersion. 
Applying  this  comparative  method  of  re- 
search, let  us  now  attempt  to  sketch  in 
outline  the  main  features  of  early  Semitic 
religion. 

The  starting-point  of  Semitic  religion,  as 
of  other  primitive  religions,  was  the  recog- 
nition of  the  distinction  of  soul  and  body 
in  man.  Until  the  idea  of  spirit  had  been 
gained,  belief  in  gods  was  an  impossibility. 
This  idea,  as  archseology  shows,  was  ac- 
quired by  mankind  as  early  as  the  palaeo- 
lithic age.  It  was  a  logical  inference  from 
the  phenomena  of  consciousness  and  un- 
consciousness. In  swoons  and  in  death  an 

1  From  Sem,  the  Greek  and  Latin  form  of  Shem,  the  as- 
sumed ancestor  of  these  peoples  in  Gen.  x.  21-31, 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

invisible  something  went  out  of  a  person; 
and  since  breathing  also  ceased,  it  was 
natural  to  identify  the  vital  principle  with 
the  breath.  In  sleep  the  soul  apparently 
left  the  body,  and  in  dreams  it  visited  dis- 
tant scenes,  yet  it  returned  unharmed  to  its 
abode;  hence  it  was  inferred  that  it  could 
exist  in  a  disembodied  state,  and  that  it  sur- 
vived the  catastrophe  of  death.  Ghosts 
were  mysterious  and  awe-inspiring,  and 
their  powers  were  believed  to  be  vastly 
superior  to  those  of  living  men,  therefore 
they  were  both  feared  and  honored  as  su- 
perhuman beings.  In  all  the  Semitic  lan- 
guages they  were  called  by  the  general 
name  il  (Hebrew  el^  "god,"  cf.  I  Sam. 
xxviii.  13),  which  probably  originally  meant 
"power'';  and  they  received  the  same 
rites  of  worship  that  were  paid  to  other 
divinities. 

This  recognition  of  a  distinction  between 
soul  and  body  in  man  furnished  a  basis  for 

3 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

the  interpretation  of  nature  as  a  whole. 
Every  striking  physical  object,  everything 
that  could  do  something,  or  was  believed  to 
be  able  to  do  something,  was  supposed  to 
be  animated  by  a  spirit  that  could  leave  it 
temporarily  or  permanently,  just  as  the  soul 
left  the  body.  Such  a  spirit  was  known  as 
^7,  "  power,''  the  same  name  that  was  ap- 
plied to  the  disembodied  human  soul.  Thus, 
besides  ancestors,  the  Semites  came  to  wor- 
ship a  multitude  of  other  spiritual  beings 
that  manifested  themselves  in  all  sorts  of 
phenomena. 

Powers  inhabiting  physical  objects  were 
known  as  ba'al  (fem.  ba'alaf)^  i.  e.  "owner, 
possessor,''  which  described  them  as  pro- 
prietors of  the  particular  things  in  which 
they  dwelt.  There  were  ba^als  of  celestial 
phenomena,  such  as  Ba^al-Shamem, "  owner 
of  the  sky";  Ba'al-Saphon  (Zephon), 
"  owner  of  the  north  " ;  Shemesh, "  the  sun  " ; 
Sin,  "the  moon";   Ur,  "light";   Selem, 

4 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

"darkness.'^  There  were  ba^als  of  at- 
mospheric phenomena,  such  as  Regem, 
^' storm";  Hadad  (Addu,  Adad),  or  Ram- 
man  (Rimmon),  "thunder";  Resheph,  or 
Barak,  "  lightning  " ;  Sharabu,  "  heat " ; 
Birdu,  "cold";  Barad,  "hail";  Matar, 
"  rain  ";  Geshem, "  shower  ";  Tal,  "dew  "; 
Horeph,  "frost" 

There  were  ba^als  of  animals,  such  as 
Bel-shahi,  "  owner  of  the  wild  boar"; 
Asad,  "lion";  Nasr, "vulture  ";  ^Auf,  "bird 
of  prey."  There  were  ba^als  of  trees,  such 
as  Ba^al-tamar, "  owner  of  the  palm  " ;  ba^als 
of  springs,  such  as  Ba^alath-be'er,  "proprie- 
trixof  the  well,"  and  Ba^al-perasim,  "owner 
of  the  breaking  forth  of  water";  Ba^als  of 
mountains,  such  as  Ba^al-Pe^or,  Ba^al-Her- 
mon,  Ba^al-Carmel,  Ba^al-Lebanon;  ba^als 
of  stones,  such  as  Ba^al-hamman,  "  owner  of 
the  pillar."  The  object  in  which  the  god 
dwelt  was  known  as  beth-el^  "house  of 
deity"  (Greek  baitulos).    The  asherdy  or 

5 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

sacred  pole,  was  identified  so  completely 
with  the  divinity  inhabiting  it  as  to  become 
the  name  of  a  goddess.  Images  were  un- 
known in  the  earliest  period.  Other  ba^als 
were  named  after  the  places  where  they 
were  worshiped,  without  mention  of  the 
particular  sacred  object  in  which  they  re- 
sided; e.g.  Ba^al-Sidon,  Ba^al-Sur  (Tyre), 
Ba^alat-Gebal. 

Powers  presiding  over  departments  of 
human  life  were  called  by  names  express- 
ing kinship  or  authority,  which  described 
them  as  owners  of  meninthe  same  way  that 
ba^al  described  them  as  owners  of  things. 
In  the  primitive  matriarchal  stage  of  social 
organization  the  chief  tribal  gods  were  na- 
turally feminine,  and  were  regarded  as  the 
mothers  of  their  people.  Male  divinities 
were  not  called  "  father,''  since  the  fathers 
were  men  of  other  tribes,  who  only  "  came 
in  "  to  the  mothers  temporarily,  and  were 
usually  unknown  to  the  children.  They 
6 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

were  known  as  Hal^  "  maternal  uncle,''  or 
Ah^  "brother,"  L  e.,  "fellow-clansman." 
They  might  also  be  addressed  as  Adon 
{Adonis)^  Mar^  or  Rabb^  i.  e.,  "master," 
When  subsequently  the  family  assumed  the 
polyandrous  form,  the  child  still  did  not 
know  its  father,  but  only  a  group  of  hus- 
bands of  the  mother,  any  one  of  whom  might 
be  either  father  or  uncle.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances male  divinities  could  not  yet  be 
called  "father,"  but  only  'Amm^  "father- 
uncle."  Personal  names  compounded  with 
this  divine  title  are  exceedingly  common  in 
all  the  Semitic  languages,  and  are  to  be  re- 
garded as  survivals  from  the  polyandrous 
period.    When  finally  fraternal  polyandry 
gave  place  to  polygamy  and  the  patriarchal 
organization  of  the  family,  the  word  Ab 
came  to  mean  "father,"  and  was  applied  as 
a  title  to  male  gods.  As  more  complex  social 
forms  arose  through  the  grouping  of  tribes 
into  nations  and  the  founding  of  monarchies, 
7 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

male  gods  were  called  by  the  same  titles  as 
the  human  rulers.  Thus  we  find  Melek 
{Milcom,  MolecK) , "  king  " ;  Dan,  "judge  " ; 
^osA,  "lord'';  SAem,  "name";  '^lyon, 
"high,"  used  as  divine  titles  in  all  the  Se- 
mitic languages. 

Some  of  the  departmental  divinities  of 
primitive  Semitic  religion  were  ^Ashtar 
(Ishtar,  Ashtoreth,  Astarte),  the  goddess 

Ni/ 

of  reproduction  ;  ^Anath,  the  goddess  of 
war;  Sid,  "the  hunter,"  after  whom  Sidon 
was  named;  Gad, "fortune  ";  Meni  (Manat) 
"fate";  Muth,  "death";  Ruda,  "good- 
will"; ^Azar,  "help";  Pelet,  "deliver- 
ance"; Awen,  "strength";  Sedek,  "right- 
eousness"; Shalem  (Shalom),  "peace." 

Powers  presiding  over  mental  states  were 
known  as  ruJioth,  "spirits,"  because  they 
took  possession  of  men.  Every  emotion  and 
every  other  form  of  intellectual  activity  had 
its  appropriate  presiding  genius.  Such,  for 
instance,  were  Gil,  "joy";  Wadd,  "love"; 
8 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

Pahad,  "  fear."  A  survival  of  this  form  of 
thought  in  Hebrew  is  seen  in  such  expres- 
sions as  "  spirit  of  wisdom,  spirit  of  might, 
spirit  of  jealousy,  spirit  of  error,  spirit  of 
deep  sleep,''  which  show  that  originally 
these  powers  were  conceived  as  independ- 
ent divinities. 

Spirits  of  the  dead  could  enter  inanimate 
things,  such  as  sticks  and  stones,  causing  in 
them  motion,  or  endowing  them  with  ma- 
gical properties.  Heaps  of  stones,  or  pillars 
set  upon  graves,  were  believed  to  be  occu- 
pied by  them.  In  Nabataean,  Palmyrene,  and 
Aramic  nefesh^  "soul,"  means  also  "tomb- 
stone." All  the  phenomena  of  rappings  and 
levitations  that  occur  in  modern  seances 
were  known  to  the  ancient  Semites,  and 
were  explained  by  them  in  the  same  way 
as  by  modern  spiritualists.  In  like  manner 
divinities  of  other  sorts  could  reveal  their 
nature  and  their  will  by  causing  motion  in 
physical  objects.  The  courses  of  the  sun, 

9 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

moon,  and  stars,  the  floating  of  clouds,  the 
crash  of  thunder,  the  flash  of  lightning,  the 
cry  of  beasts,  the  flight  of  birds,  the  rustle 
of  leaves,  the  babble  of  water,  were  all  means 
through  which  they  manifested  themselves. 

Spirits  of  the  dead  could  also  obsess  the 
bodies  of  living  men  causing  diseases  of 
every  description.  Ancestors  retained  a 
keen  interest  in  their  posterity,  and  actively 
intervened  in  the  events  of  their  lives. 
Enemies  preserved  their  original  hostility 
to  their  foes.  So  also  departmental  gods 
showed  their  favor  or  disfavor  by  the  bless- 
ings or  the  curses  that  they  sent  upon  men. 
Health  or  sickness,  pleasure  or  pain,  joy 
or  sorrow,  success  or  failure,  fertility  or 
barrenness,  peace  or  war,  life  or  death, 
were  allotted  by  them. 

Spirits  of  the  dead  could  also  appear  in 
dreams  and  visions  displaying  the  same 
form  in  which  they  had  last  been  seen  on 
earth.  They  could  speak  in  audible  tones, 

ID 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

though  with  weak  and  trembling  voices 
that  corresponded  with  their  ethereal  na- 
ture. Among  the  Arabs  their  voice  was 
known  as  sada^  "  echo."  They  could  also 
take  possession  of  the  intelligences  of  men, 
causing  in  them,  ecstasy,  divided  conscious- 
ness, clairvoyance,  and  all  the  other  mys- 
terious phenomena  of  the  subliminal  self. 
Among  the  Arabs  the  spirit  that  revealed 
himself  to  a  medium  was  known  as  ra'^, 
the  same  word  as  the  Hebrew  rVeh^ 
"seer."  Among  the  Hebrews  he  was  called 
yidde'dntj  "  the  knowing  one."  Like  pow- 
ers were  possessed  by  the  other  classes  of 
spirits. 

The  specialist  in  the  interpretation  of 
physical  phenomena  was  the  kahin^  or 
"soothsayer."  In  Arabia  he  observed  the 
omens;  or,  where  no  omens  were  forth- 
coming, drew  sticks  or  arrows  as  lots  in 
the  presence  of  the  divinity,  and  gave  his 
response  to  the  inquirer  in  sentences  of 
II 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

rhymed  prose.  In  Babylonia  he  was  an 
astrologer,  augur,  and  haruspex.  He  was 
the  prototype  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  hbhen^ 
or  "priest,''  who  ascertained  the  will  of 
God  by  means  of  the  sacred  lot  of  Urim 
and  Thummim. 

The  specialist  in  the  interpretation  of 
the  events  of  life  was  the  kdkdm  or  "  sage." 
He  studied  human  nature  to  see  what  ac- 
tions resulted  beneficially  and  what  disas- 
trously, and  embodied  the  results  of  his 
observation  in  brief,  pithy  proverbs  that 
served  as  rules  of  conduct  for  succeeding 
generations.  He  was  the  physician  who 
knew  what  drugs  or  magic  spells  relieved 
pain,  and  he  possessed  the  incantations  by 
which  evil  spirits  could  be  expelled.  He 
was  the  prototype  of  the  hdhmn^  or  "  sage," 
of  later  Hebrew  religion,  whose  wise  say- 
ings have  come  down  to  us  in  the  Book  of 
Proverbs  and  the  other  "  Wisdom  "  litera- 
ture of  the  Old  Testament. 

12 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

The  specialist  in  phenomena  of  the  sub- 
liminal self  was  the  ro^eh^  or  "seer."  In 
dream,  vision,  or  ecstasy,  he  was  possessed 
by  a  god,  and  uttered  in  poetry  the  message 
that  he  received.  He  was  the  prototype  of 
the  seers  and  prophets  of  the  later  Hebrew 
religion. 

On  the  basis  of  the  phenomena  that  have 
just  been  considered,  the  ancient  Semites 
conceived  of  their  gods  as  ethereal  beings 
that  were  able  to  move  at  will  with  light- 
ning-like rapidity  to  any  place  where  they 
wished  to  manifest  themselves.  As  an  an- 
cient Babylonian  exorcism  says,  — 

The  highest  walls,  the  thickest  walls,  like  a  flood 

they  pass. 
From  house  to  house  they  break  through. 
No  door  can  shut  them  out,  no  bolt  can  turn  them  back. 
Through  the  door  like  a  snake  they  glide, 
Through  the  hinge  like  a  wind  they  blow. 

Because   of    their   superhuman   powers 
they  were  supposed  to  be  charged  with  a 
13 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

mysterious  energy  that  made  it  dangerous 
for  men  to  come  into  contact  with  them. 
This  uncanny  quality  the  Semites  described 
by  derivatives  of  the  root  k-d-shy  which 
means  "  to  be  separate,"  or  ^'  sacred.''  In 
Hebrew  the  adjective  was  kadbshy  which 
in  the  later  development  of  the  language 
meant  "holy,"  in  an  ethical  sense;  but 
which  originally  denoted  "set  apart,"  or 
"  taboo."  This  separateness  the  gods  com- 
municated to  the  objects  in  which  they 
resided,  the  phenomena  in  which  they 
manifested  themselves,  and  the  persons 
whom  they  possessed.  Taboo  was  so  highly 
infectious  that  if  a  person  touched  a  holy 
thing,  or  under  some  circumstances  even 
saw  or  heard  it,  he  himself  became  taboo. 
The  unfortunate  man  was  a  source  of  peril 
to  every  one  that  met  him,  and  if  he  could 
not  be  un-tabooed  by  some  process  of  lus- 
tration, he  must  be  put  to  death  to  avoid 
the  spread  of  the  infection  of  "  holiness." 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

For  this  reason  the  ancient  Semites  lived 
in  constant  fear  of  their  divinities,  lest 
through  contact  with  some  sacred  object 
they  might  bring  destruction  upon  them- 
selves. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  their  perilous  character, 
the  gods  were  regarded  as  friendly  powers. 
This  appears  in  the  titles  of  kinship  and  of 
authority  that  have  been  noted  above.  It 
appears  also  in  the  predicates  used  in  per- 
sonal names  that  are  found  in  all  the  dia- 
lects, and  that  must,  therefore,  be  extremely 
ancient.  These  names  affirm  that  the  god 
in  question  is  great,  lofty,  glorious,  lumi- 
nous, that  he  is  wise,  perfect,  righteous, 
good,  and  peaceful;  that  he  knows,  loves, 
blesses,  is  generous,  is  near,  hears,  vindi- 
cates and  helps;  that  he  gives  (children), 
builds  (the  family),  sows,  preserves  in  life. 

The  location  of  sanctuaries  was  deter-  ^ 
mined  by  the  presence  of  objects  in  which  i 
superhuman  powers  dwelt.    To  guard  the 

15 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

holiness  of  the  spot,  a  wall,  or  line  of  stones, 
was  placed  around  the  sacred  object.  By 
the  Arabs  such  an  enclosure  was  called 
haranij  or  hima^  "  withdrawn."  By  the  He- 
brews it  was  called  bamd^  "  high  place."  \ 
Everything  that  entered  the  sacred  precinct 
was  taboo.   Criminals  were  safe  so  long  as 
they  remained  within  it,  and  animals  that 
strayed  into  it  might  not  be  recovered,  but 
were  devoted  to  the  god.  High  places  were 
sometimes  in  the  charge  of  a  custodian, 
who  might  be  the  khhin^  or  "  diviner,"  who 
obtained  omens  from  the  object  of  worship. 
Before  entering  the  holy  place  the  wor- 
shiper prepared  himself  by  fasting  and  by  / 
washing,  lest  any  taboo  offensive  to  the  god  1 
might  chance  to  cling  to  him.    He  also  re-  1 
moved  his  garments  and  his  sandals,  lest! 
they  might  convey  some  taboo  into  the 
place,  or  carry  out  a  taboo.    On  entering 
the  sacred  enclosure  he  covered  his  head 
with  a  cloth,  or  with  his  hands,  that  he 
i6 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

might  not  run  the  risk  of  death  through  in- 
cautiously looking  upon  the  god.  He  also 
cried  out  to  give  warning  of  his  approach. 
He  then  danced  or  marched  around  the 
holy  stone,  shouting  the  name  of  the  god  as 
he  went,  and  finally  stood  before  it  in  a 
devout  attitude.  If  thus  far  no  harm  befell 
him,  he  ventured  to  stroke  or  to  kiss  the 
holy  stone. 

Then  followed  the  slaying  of  a  victim. 
The  blood  was  given  to  the  gods  by  being 
poured  on  the  ground  or  smeared  upon  the 
holy  stone.  Altars  were  probably  unknown 
in  the  earliest  period.  The  flesh  was  eaten 
in  the  holy  place  by  the  worshiper  in  a  sac- 
ramental meal  of  communion.  Only  domes- 
tic animals  were  offered.  The  firstborn  of 
these  were  taboo,  and  must  be  sacrificed. 
Firstborn  children  were  also  devoted,  and 
other  sorts  of  human  sacrifice  were  not  un- 
known. Circumcision,  cuttings  in  the  flesh, 
and  cutting  of  the  hair  existed  among  the 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Semites  from  the  remotest  antiquity,  and 
may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  conventional 
substitutes  for  human  sacrifice.  Offerings  of 
food,  and  of  other  things  that  men  counted 
valuable,  were  also  acceptable  to  the  gods. 
When  the  sacrifice  was  complete,  prayer  was 
uttered  for  blessings  upon  oneself,  or  curses 
upon  one's  enemies,  and  vows  were  made 
to  offer  a  particular  sort  of  sacrifice  if  one 
received  a  favor.  Sexual  excess  was  also 
practiced  at  sanctuaries  in  honor  of  ^Ashtar, 
the  goddess  of  reproduction. 

As  holy  days  the  ancient  Semites  kept 
the  new  moon  and  also  probably  the  Sab- 
bath, which  was  originally,  as  in  Babylonia, 
a  taboo  day  falling  upon  the  seventh,  four- 
teenth, twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days 
of  the  lunar  month.  A  spring  feast  was 
celebrated  when  the  lambs  were  born,  and 
an  autumnal  festival  when  the  date-harvest 
was  gathered.  At  these  times  feuds  were 
dropped  between  hostile  tribes,  and  pil- 
i8 


THE  PRIMITIVE  SEMITIC  PERIOD 

grimages  were  made  to  the  more  famous 
sanctuaries. 

In  all  these  features  of  primitive  Semitism 
a  close  resemblance  is  observable  to  the 
forms  of  later  Hebrew  religion.  However 
far  Israel  developed,  it  never  wholly  out- 
grew the  cult  that  had  been  originated 
by  its  forefathers  in  the  desert.  It  is  also 
noteworthy  that  early  Semitic  religion  was 
better  adapted  than  other  faiths  to  become 
a  basis  for  the  spiritual  religion  of  Israel. 
Among  the  Indo-Europeans  the  god  was 
'  identified  with  the  physical  phenomenon, 
while  among  the  Semites  he  was  distin- 
guished from  it  as  its  ba'al ;  and  it  was 
known  as  beth-el^  or  "house  of  deity."  The 
preference  for  general  designations  instead 
of  personal  names  of  gods  also  favored  a 
monotheistic  development,  since  all  these 
titles  expressed  transcendence,  and  could 
easily  be  regarded  as  epithets  of  one  supreme 
divinity.  Accordingly,  even  in  the  primitive 

19 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Semitic  period,  we  must  recognize  the  be- 
ginning of  that  unique  revelation  of  God 
which  is  contained  in  the  Old  Testament, 
and  which  reaches  its  culmination  in  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


II 

THE    PATRIARCHAL    PERIOD 

For  the  religion  of  the  period  between 
the  migration  of  the  Hebrews  out  of  their 
primitive  home  in  the  Arabian  desert  and 
their  organization  into  a  nation  by  Moses 
no  contemporary  sources  of  information 
have  survived.  The  traditions  in  Genesis 
were  handed  down  by  word  of  mouth  for 
centuries  before  they  received  their  pre- 
sent literary  fixing.  Modern  critics  are 
agreed  that  this  book  is  compiled  out  of 
three  parallel  histories:  the  J  document, 
which  calls  Godjahveh  (Jehovah),  writ- 
ten in  the  kingdom  of  Judah  about  850- 
800  B.  G.;  the  E  document,  which  calls 
God  El  or  Elohim,  written  in  the  kingdom 
of  Ephraim  about  800-750  b.  c;  and  P^ 
or  the  Priestly  document,  written  in  Baby- 
21 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Ionia  about  500  b.  c.  By  Massoretic  He- 
brew tradition  Abraham  is  placed  720 
years  before  Moses,  who  must  have  flour- 
ished about  1200  B.  c.  There  is  thus  an 
interval  of  11 00  years  between  Abraham 
and  the  earliest  of  the  documents  of  Gene- 
sis, and  of  1400  years  between  him  and 
the  latest  of  these  documents.  Under  these 
conditions  we  cannot  expect  to  find  exact 
history  in  the  stories  of  the  patriarchs,  and 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  a  close  examination  of 
the  traditions  makes  it  evident  that  only  a 
few  of  them  really  date  from  the  pre-Mo- 
saic  age.  J  and  E  in  their  tales  of  the  fore- 
fathers depict  the  beliefs  of  Israel  in  the 
days  of  Elijah  and  Elisha,  and  P  shows  us 
only  what  the  post-exilic  Jews  in  Babylo- 
nia supposed  the  religion  of  their  ancestors 
to  have  been.  To  extract  from  these  late 
documents  genuine  memories  of  pre-Mo- 
saic  times  is  a  diflScult  critical  problem. 
A  question  of  fundamental  importance 
22 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

is  whether  Yahweh/  the  God  of  Moses, 
was  worshiped  already  by  the  patriarchs. 
On  this  matter  the  Pentateuchal  histories 
do  not  agree.  The  Judaean  document  repre- 
sents Yahweh  as  adored  by  the  forefathers 
from  the  days  of  Adam  onward.*  In  the  J 
sections  of  Ex.  iii,  when  Yahweh  appears 
to  Moses,  he  does  not  reveal  his  name  as 
new,  or  explain  its  meaning,  but  assumes 
that  it  is  well  known.^  On  the  other  hand, 
the  E  document  throughout  Genesis  care- 
fully abstains  from  the  use  of  the  divine  ' 
name  Yahweh,  and  employs  El  or  Elohim, 
that  is,  "  God."  In  its  account  of  the  theo- 
phany  to  Moses,^  Moses  is  ignorant  of  the 
personal  name  of  the  deity  who  appears  to 

^  This  name  of  God  was  written  in  Hebrew  with  the  con- 
sonants nirT*,  which  are  transliterated  by  YHWH,  or  with 
Latin  pronunciation  of  the  letters,  by  JHVH.  The  pronunci- 
ation Yehowah,  or  Jehovah,  is  a  monstrosity  due  to  a  com- 
bination of  these  consonants  with  the  vowels  of  the  word  for 
Lord.  The  original  pronunciation  was  probably  Yahweh. 

2  Gen.  iv.  3  f.,   26. 

'  Cf.  Ex.  iii.  7,  16;  V.  I,  3. 

*  Ex.  iii.  10-15. 

23 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

him,  and  regards  the  people  in  Egypt  as 
ignorant,  for  he  says:  "When  they  shall 
say  unto  me,  What  is  his  name  ?  what  shall 
I  say  unto  them?"  Thereupon  God  replies: 
"Ehyeh  ["I  will  be,''  =  Yahweh,  "He 
will  be '']  hath  sent  me  unto  you.''  This  is 
also  the  view  of  the  P  document.  It  avoids 
the  name  Yahweh  in  patriarchal  times, 
and  in  Ex.  vi.  2  f.  expressly  declares: 
"  God  spake  unto  Moses,  and  said  unto  him, 
I  am  Yahweh :  and  I  appeared  unto  Abra- 
ham, unto  Isaac,  and  unto  Jacob,  as  God 
Shaddai;  but  by  my  name  Yahweh  I  was 
not  known  unto  them." 

Jewish  and  Christian  ecclesiastical  tradi- 
tion has  followed  the  opinion  of  J,  that 
Yahweh  was  worshiped  by  the  Hebrews 
from  the  earliest  times,  and  many  modern 
critics  have  adopted  this  view  on  the 
strength  of  the  fact  that  J  is  the  oldest  docu- 
ment of  the  Pentateuch;  but  there  are  a 
number  of  considerations  that  make  it 
24 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

probable  that  the  opinion  of  E  and  P  is 
more  correct. 

1.  Yahweh  is  a  Semitic  name  belonging 
to  a  dialect  closely  akin  to  Biblical  Hebrew. 
It  is  inconceivable  that  this  dialect  was 
spoken  by  Adam  and  his  immediate  de- 
scendants. J  is  certainly  unhistorical,  there- 
fore, when  it  traces  this  name  back  to  the 
foundation  of  the  world;  and  there  is  no 
guarantee  that  it  is  any  more  historical 
when  it  assigns  the  name  to  the  age  of  the 
patriarchs. 

2.  If  Yahweh  had  been  worshiped  by 
the  patriarchs,  they  would  have  used  his 
name  as  an  element  in  their  own  names; 
but  not  a  single  Yahweh-compound  occurs 
in  all  ^the  lengthy  genealogies  of  Genesis, 
even  in  those  of  J.  The  first  name  of  this 
sort  is  Yehoshua^  (Joshua). 

3.  The  infrequency  of  names  compounded 
with  Yahweh  before  the  time  of  David  is 
evidence  that  the  worship  of  this  god  was 

25 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

introduced  by  Moses.  There  are  six  names 
of  this  type  in  the  period  between  Moses 
and  David,  Joshua,  Jonathan, Joashjjotham, 
Joel  and  Abijah,  all  in  the  families  of  reli- 
gious leaders.  In  the  time  of  David  the 
number  rises  to  seventeen,  and  all  but  four 
belong  to  royal  or  priestly  families. 

4.  The  earliest  literary  prophets,  Amos, 
Hosea,  Isaiah  and  Micah,  never  speak  of 
dealings  of  Yahweh  with  the  patriarchs,  but 
begin  his  revelation  to  Israel  at  the  time  of 
the  exodus.  Hos.  xiii.  4  says  expressly, 
"  I  am  Yahweh  thy  God  from  the  land  of 
Egypt." '  This  shows  that  they  agree  with 
the  view  of  E  and  of  P. 

5.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  the  tradition  of 
J  might  have  arisen,  if  that  of  E  had  been 
true;  while  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the 
tradition  of  E  could  have  arisen,  if  that  of 
J  had  been  true.  If  Yahweh  had  really  been 

^  Cf.  Am.  ii.  9, 10;  iii.  i;  ix.  7;  Hos.  ii.  14;  ix.  10;  xii.  13; 
Isa.  X.  26;  Mic.  vi.  4-5. 

26 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

the  primeval  god  of  Israel,  there  would 
have  been  no  motive  for  transforming  him 
into  a  god  first  taught  by  Moses;  but,  if  he 
had  first  been  adopted  at  the  time  of  the 
exodus,  it  would  have  been  natural  to  in- 
vent a  higher  antiquity  for  him. 

For  these  reasons  it  seems  clear  that  we 
must  follow  the  tradition  of  E,  P,  and  the 
early  prophets,  that  Yahweh  was  not  known 
to  the  patriarchs,  but  was  first  revealed  to 
Israel  through  Moses.  This  conclusion 
raises  the  question,  What  gods  were  wor- 
shiped by  the  Hebrews  in  the  pre-Mosaic 
age?  The  assumption  of  the  Pentateuchal 
writers  was  that  the  numerous  divine  names 
that  had  come  down  in  patriarchal  tradition 
were  merely  titles  of  one  supreme  God. 
Just  as  the  theologians  of  Islam  sought  to 
destroy  evidences  of  pre-Muhammadan 
heathenism  in  Arabia,  so  the  prophetic 
historians  of  Israel  retold  the  tales  of  the 
patriarchs  in  accordance  with  the  religious 
27 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

beliefs  of  their  own  age.  Yet  even  this 
process  did  not  succeed  in  obliterating 
traces  of  pre-Mosaic  polytheism. 

The  Mosaic  commandment, "  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  beside  me,"  implies  that 
hitherto  "  other  gods "  have  been  wor- 
shiped by  Israel.  In  Josh.  xxiv.  2,  14,  23 
(E)  Joshua  exhorts  the  people,  "  Put  away 
the  gods  which  your  fathers  served  beyond 
the  River  and  in  Egypt,"  and  in  Gen.  xxxv. 
2,  4  (E)  these  gods  are  mentioned  as 
brought  into  Canaan  by  the  family  of  Jacob. 
Ezekiel  repeatedly  asserts  that  the  Israelites 
were  polytheists  before  Yahweh's  revela- 
tion through  Moses,'  and  the  same  is 
claimed  by  Amos  v.  26,  if  the  translation 
in  the  past  tense  be  correct. 

According  to  E  and  P,  the  patriarchs 
used  the  divine  names  El  and  Elohim.* 
Their  use  of  El  is  confirmed  by  proper 
names  such  as  Ishma-el,  Isra-el,  Jerahme-el; 

.  *  Ezek.  XX.  8,  i6,  23  ff.;  xxiii.  3,  8. 

28 


I   UNIVERSITY   J 

K       ^'       J 

THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

but,  as  we  saw  above/  this  is  the  oldest  and 
most  universal  designation  of  deity  in  prim- 
itive Semitic  polydaemonism.  Names  pre- 
cisely similar  in  formation  to  Isra-el  are 
found  all  over  the  Semitic  world,  and  in 
them  El  is  used  in  a  purely  polytheistic 
sense.  Elohim  is  a  plural,  probably  formed 
irregularly  from  El.  In  Hebrew  it  often 
has  a  plural  meaning,  but  it  is  also  used  as 
a  singular,  either  with  reference  to  Yahweh 
or  to  other  gods.  The  plural  meaning  must 
be  original;  and  the  singular,  must  be  a  re- 
sult of  the  triumph  of  monolatry  over  poly- 
theism. The  patriarchal  stories  of  Genesis 
have  still  an  inkling  of  the  primitive  poly- 
theistic significance  of  the  name,  since  they 
are  conscious  of  no  religious  antagonism 
between  the  forefathers  and  the  people  of 
other  races  with  whom  they  come  into  con- 
tact. Both  El  and  Elohim  are  used  freely  by 
the  patriarchs  in  talking  with  the  Canaanites, 

29 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

and  by  the  Canaanites  in  talking  with  the  pa- 
triarchs. Abram  recognizes  the  god  of  Mel- 
chizedek.'  There  is  a  revelation  of  Elohim 
to  Abimelechj  king  of  Gerar.^  The  family 
of  Laban  in  Mesopotamia  worships  the 
same  god  as  the  family  of  Abraham.^ 

Most  of  the  titles  of  divinities  that  we 
have  found  in  primitive  Semitic  religion  ap- 
pear also  in  personal  or  tribal  names  that 
are  assigned  by  tradition  to  the  pre-Mosaic 
age.  Thus  Ba^al,  "owner,"  is  found  in  Ash- 
bel  and  the  personal  name  Ba^al  ;  Ah, 
"  brother,"  in  Ahi-ram,  and  Ahi-shahar  ; 
^Amm,  "father-uncle,"  in  ^Ammon,  ^Am- 
ram,  ^Ammi-el,  and  ^Ammi-hud;  Ab,  "fa- 
ther," in  Ab-ram,  Abi-hud,  and  Abi-shua^; 
Melek,  "king,"  in  Malcam;  and  the  femi- 
nine form,  "queen,"  in  Milcah, and  Ham- 
moleketh.  Similar  is  Sarah,  "princess,"  in 
Babylonian,  "queen."  Dan, "judge,"  is  the 

*  Gen.  xiv.  18-20.  *  Gen.  xxiv.  31,  50;  xxxi.  53.    ' 

^  Gen.  XX.  3,  6. 

30 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

name  of  one  of  the  sons  of  Jacob;  and  the 
feminine  form  Dinah  is  one  of  his  daugh- 
ters. Shem,  "  name,"  is  one  of  the  sons  of 
Noah  and  also  occurs  in  Shem-ed.  ^Elyon, 
"the  high  one,"  was  the  god  of  Melchizedek, 
king  of  Salem,  who  was  also  worshiped  by 
Abram.'  According  to  Philo  of  Byblos,  he 
was  a  Phoenician  god.  Shaddai,  which,  ac- 
cording to  P,  was  the  name  by  which  God 
was  known  to  the  patriarchs,^  is  probably 
connected  with  the  Babylonian  root  shadu^ 
"be  high,"  and  is  similar  in  meaning  to 
^Elyon. 

Besides  these  common  Semitic  titles  of 
divinities,  we  find  in  the  patriarchal  tra- 
dition traces  of  the  worship  of  particular 
heathen  gods.  The  teraphim  were  brought 
from  Mesopotamia  in  the  family  of  Jacob.^ 
There  is  strong  probability  that  these  were 
images  of  ancestors.  They  represented  the 

*  Gen.  xiv.  18-20. 

^  Gen.  xvii.  i;  xxviii.  3;  xxxv.  11;  xlviii.  3;  Ex.  vi.  3. 

»  Gen.  xxxi.  19,  30-35- 

31 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

human  form.'  They  were  household  gods,' 
and  they  were  used  for  obtaining  oracles.^ 
Etymologically the  name  maybe  connected 
with  rephaim^  "  shades,"  or  with  the  Baby- 
lonian tarpu^  "  specter."  Ancestor- worship 
is  well  attested  among  the  Hebrews  after 
the  conquest  of  Canaan/ 

The  following  nature-gods  survive  in  per- 
sonal names  of  the  patriarchal  period :  Ze- 
bul,  "  dwelling,"  a  synonym  of  "  sky  "  (cf . 
Ba^al-zebul),  in  Zebulon;  Jamin,  "  South" 
(cf.  Zephon,  "  north  "),  in  Ben-jamin;  Sha- 
har,  "dawn,"  in  Ahi-shahar.  The  worship 
of  totem-animals  is  indicated  by  the  tribal 
names  Leah, "  wild  cow  " ;  Rachel,  "  ewe  " ; 
Deborah,  "bee  " ;  Reuben  (Greek,  Reubel) , 
"  lion " ;  Simeon, "  hyena  " ;  Levi, "  serpent " 
(cf .  leviathan) ;  Zimran, "  mountain  sheep  " ; 

^  I  Sam.  xix.  13,  16. 

2  Gen.  xxxi.  30,  34;  Judg.  xvii.  5;  I  Sam.  xix.  13,  16. 

*  I  Sam.  XV.  23;  II  Kings  xxiii.  24;  Ezek.  xxi.  21;  Zech. 
X.  2. 

*  Deut.  xxvi.  14;  Hos.  ix.  4;  Jer.  xvi.  7. 

32 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

Becher,  "young  camel'';  Tola^,  "worm''; 
Nun, "  fish  " ;  Susi, "  belonging  to  the  horse  " ; 
Caleb,  "dog";  Gemalli,  "belonging  to  the 
camel";  Hoglah,  "partridge"  —  the  latter 
given  as  contemporaries  of  Moses.  The  in- 
dication of  totemism  in  these  names  is  sup- 
ported by  the  fact  that  images  of  animals 
were  worshiped  by  the  later  Hebrews,'  and 
by  the  existence  of  laws  prohibiting  the  eat- 
ing of  certain  beasts.  The  narrative  of  Gen- 
esis constantly  assumes  that  holy  trees  were 
planted,  and  holy  stones  erected  by  the 
patriarchs,  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  by 
the  names  Elon,  "  holy  tree  "  and  Eli-sur, 
or  Suri-el,  "  rock  is  god."  Asher,  the  son 
of  Jacob,  is  the  same  name  as  the  Assyrian 
god  Ashur,  who  is  the  male  counterpart  of 
the  Ashera,  or  sacred  pole. 

Of  the  Semitic  departmental  gods  we 
meet  Gad,  "  fortune,"  in  the  name  of  a  son 
of  Jacob;    and   Meni,  "fate,"  perhaps  in 

^  Exod.  xxxii.  4;  I  Kings  xii.  28;  II  Kings  xviii.  4. 

33 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Manasseh,  "fate  has  lifted  up."  Ye^ush 
(Jeush),  a  son  of  Esau,  is  the  exact  pho- 
netic equivalent  of  Yaghuth  an  Arabian  di- 
vinity. Rechab,  a  clan  of  Judah,  appears  as 
a  god  Rechab-el,  and  in  the  proper  name 
Bar-Rechab,  in  the  inscription  of  the  Ara- 
maean king  Panammu.  Na^aman,  "de- 
light/' a  Syrian  god,  is  a  son  of  Benjamin. 
Such  names  as  Isaac,  "  he  laughs,''  Jacob, 
"he  supplants," Joseph,  "he  adds,"  seem 
to  be  primarily  names  of  gods  rather  than 
of  individuals.  They  are  formed  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  divine  names  Yahweh 
(Jahveh),  "he  causes  to  live,"  (?)  and 
Yaghuth,  "he  helps."  Apparently  they 
were  originally  departmental  gods  after 
whom  the  tribes  were  named.  In  Babylo- 
nian and  Egyptian  inscriptions  we  meet 
the  forms  Jacob-el  and  Joseph-el,  which 
are  probably  not  to  be  translated  "God 
supplants,"  and  "  God  adds,"  but  "  the  god 
who  supplants,"  and  "  the  god  who  adds." 
34 


THE  PATRIARCHAL  PERIOD 

In  like  manner  Isra-el  means  "the  god 
who  strives;"  Ishma-el,  "the  god  who 
hears; '^  and  Jerahme-el,  "the  god  who 
pities," 

In  view  of  these  facts  it  is  evident  that 
the  religion  of  the  pre-Mosaic  Hebrews 
cannot  have  differed  greatly  from  that  of 
the  other  early  Semites.  The  founder  of 
the  Hebrew  religion  was  not  Abraham  but 
Moses.  Many  gods  were  worshiped,  but 
each  tribe  had  a  chief  male  divinity,  after 
whom  usually  it  was  named.  The  rites 
practiced  in  the  cult  of  these  gods  must 
have  been  practically  the  same  as  those  of 
primitive  Semitism. 


Ill 

THE    MOSAIC    PERIOD 

In  the  time  of  Moses  (about  1200  b.  c.) 
we  pass  from  the  pre-historic  to  the  his- 
toric period  of  the  religion  of  Israel.  Even 
here,  however,  contemporary  records  are 
almost,  if  not  entirely,  lacking.  Our  main 
authorities  are  the  same  three  documents 
that  we  noted  above  as  sources  for  the 
history  of  patriarchal  times,  namely  the  Ju- 
daean  document  (J),  written  850-800  b.  c; 
the  Ephraimite  document  (E),  written 
800-750  B.  c;  the  Priestly  document  (P), 
written  about  500  b.  c.  To  these  are  added 
Deuteronomy  (D),  that  was  first  promul- 
gated in  619  B.  c/  The  earlier  of  these 
documents  stand  near  enough  to  the  times 
of  Moses  to  have  preserved  an  authentic 

II  Kings  xxii.  8  ff. 

36 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

tradition;  and  since  they  agree  in  regard 
to  the  main  features  of  his  life  and  are 
confirmed  by  the  facts  of  later  history, 
we  may  accept  their  testimony  as  trust- 
worthy. 

The  tradition  that  some  at  least  of  the 
Hebrew  tribes  were  enslaved  by  an  Egyp- 
tian monarch,  and  compelled  to  build  store- 
cities  called  Pithom  and  Raamses/  is  con- 
firmed by  the  discovery  in  Egypt  of  ruins 
in  which  were  found  the  names  both  of 
King  Ramses  II  and  of  the  place  Pi-Tum. 
Moshe  (Moses)  is  the  Egyptian  word  mose 
"child"  which  occurs  as  an  element  in 
the  names  of  several  Pharaohs.  Phinehas, 
the  grandson  of  Aaron,^  is  also  an  Egyptian 
name,  and  so  is  Putiel,  his  maternal  grand- 
father. The  name  Phinehas  reappears  in 
the  priestly  family  of  Eli.'  The  account 
of  Moses'  flight  from  Egypt  and  his  long 
residence  at  Sinai  is  unquestionably  histor- 
,    »  Ex.  L  II.  *  Ex.  vi.  25.  3  I  Sam.  iv.  11. 

37 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

ical,  since  only  thus  can  we  understand 
why  this  mountain  was  the  goal  of  the 
exodus,  or  how  the  Hebrews  entered  at 
once  into  such  friendly  relations  with  the 
tribes  that  dwelt  in  its  vicinity.  According 
to  both  J  and  E,  Moses  married  a  daughter 
of  the  priest  of  the  Kenites,  or  Midianites, 
who  dwelt  at  Sinai-Horeb. 

The  chief  divinity  of  this  people  was 
Yahweh,  who,  as  we  saw  above,'  was  not 
the  ancestral  god  of  Israel.  The  evidence  in 
support  of  this  view  is  as  follows:  — 

I.  Hebrew  tradition  unanimously  con- 
nects Yahweh  with  Sinai-Horeb  in  such  a 
way  as  to  indicate  that  originally  he  was 
the  god  of  this  mountain.*  In  the  Song  of 
Deborah^  he  comes  from  Sinai  to  rescue 
his  people  in  Canaan,  so  also  in  the  ancient 
poem  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  2,  and  in  Hab.  iii.  3. 

*  p.  23  ff. 

2  Cf.  Ex.  iii.  I  (E);  iii.  12  (E);  xviii.  i  (E);  iii.  5  (J);  iii.  18 
(J);  xix.  4  (J);  Ex.  xxxiii.  1-4. 
«  Judg.  V.  4  f .  J 

38 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

When  Elijah  wishes  to  find  Yahweh  he 
goes  to  Horeb,  the  mount  of  God.' 

2.  In  Ex.  iv.  24-26  (J)  Moses  has  neg- 
lected the  rite  of  circumcision^  and  Yahweh 
seeks  to  slay  him;  but  Zipporah,  his  wife, 
who  knows  what  is  required,  takes  a  flint 
and  fulfils  the  rite  upon  her  son;  then  the 
divine  wrath  is  appeased.  Here  Zipporah 
the  Kenite  is  regarded  as  better  instructed 
in  the  religion  of  Yahweh  than  her  Hebrew 
husband. 

3.  In  the  Elohistic  narrative  of  Ex.  xviii. 
I~i2,  Jethro,  Moses'  father-in-law,  appears 
as  a  priest  of  Yahweh,  who  initiates  the 
elders  of  Israel  into  his  religion.  In  the  fol- 
lowing verses,  Ex.  xviii.  14-27,  he  is  the 
originator  of  Israel's  judicial  system. 

4.  The  Kenites  were  attached  to  Israel 
from  the  time  of  the  exodus  onward  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  that  they  were  worship- 
ers of  Yahweh.    According  to  Numb.  x. 

^  I  Kings  xix.  8. 

39 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

29-33  (J)  and  Judg.  i.  16  (J),  they  went 
up  with  Israel  into  Canaan.'  When  Saul 
determined  to  destroy  the  Amalekites,  he 
sent  messengers  to  the  Kenites  to  warn 
them.* 

5.  The  Kenites  appear  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  enthusiasts  for  Yahweh,  and  as 
representatives  of  his  pure,  original  religion. 
Jael,  the  wife  of  Heber  the  Kenite,  was  the 
slayer  of  Sisera  and  the  deliverer  of  Israel.^ 
The  Rechabites  were  a  branch  of  the  Ke- 
nites.^ One  of  them,  Jonadab,  was  invited 
by  Jehu  to  come  and  see  his  zeal  for  Yah- 
weh,  and  assisted  him  in  the  extermination 
of  the  worshipers  of  the  Tyrian  Baal.  In 
Jer.  XXXV.  the  prophet  holds  up  the  Recha- 
bites as  examples  of  fidelity  to  the  good  old 
ways  of  Yahweh. 

6.  The  mark  of  Yahweh  borne  by  Kayin 
(Cain),  the  eponym  ancestor  of  Kayin  (the 

V 

^  Cf.  Josh.  XV.  32, 57;  Judg. iv.  II ;  v.  24.      *  Judg.  v.  24. 
*  I  Sam.  XV.  5-7.  *  I  Chr.  ii.  55. 

40 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

Kenites),  according  to  Gen.  iv.  15,  which 
protected  him  from  harm  as  he  wandered 
about  the  land,  indicates  that  from  time  im- 
memorial the  Kenites  had  the  emblem  of 
Yahweh  tatooed  upon  them.  If  so,  he  must 
have  been  their  ancestral  god.  In  view  of 
these  facts  it  seems  necessary  to  assume  that 
Yahweh  was  originally  the  god  of  the  Ke- 
nites, and  that  knowledge  of  him  was  first 
brought  to  Israel  through  Moses. 

What  his  original  character  was  before 
he  became  the  god  of  Israel  can  only  be  con- 
jectured. The  lower  elements  in  the  later 
Hebrew  conception  of  him  may  be  regarded 
as  survivals  from  the  pre-Mosaic  period. 
The  description  of  the  theophany  in  Ex.  xix. 
when  "the  mount  was  altogether  on  smoke, 
because  Yahweh  descended  upon  it  in  fire : 
and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the 
smoke  of  a  furnace,  and  the  whole  mount 
quaked  greatly,"  suggests  that  Sinai  was 
one  of  the  numerous  active  volcanoes  that 
41 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

once  existed  in  the  land  of  Midian.'  Down 
to  the  latest  times  in  poetical  passages  of 
the  Old  Testament  Yahweh  is  described  as 
a  god  who  appears  in  earthquake,  fire,  and 
storm.  This  suggests  that  originally  he  was 
a  volcanic  deity.  As  to  the  primitive  mean- 
ing of  his  name  nothing  certain  is  known. 
The  etymology  of  E  in  Ex.  iii.  14,  which  in- 
terprets it  as  meaning  "he  who  will  be,''  is 
certainly  the  product  of  late  theological  re- 
flection. Other  possible  meanings  are  "  he 
who  causes  to  live,"  or  "  he  who  causes  to 
fall "  (rain,  lightning,  enemies?).  For  us  it 
is  more  important  to  know  what  he  became 
for  Israel  than  what  he  was  originally  as  the 
god  of  the  Kenites. 

While  Moses  was  tending  the  flock  of 
his  father-in-law  in  Sinai,  Yahweh,  the  god 
of  the  mountain,  appeared  to  him  in  a  fiery 
(volcanic?)  glow  in  a  thorn-bush.  There 
are  three  parallel  accounts  of  this  vision: 

^  Cf.  Ex.  iii.  2;  I  Kings  xix.  11  f. 

42 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

Ex.  iii.  1,4^,6,  9^-15,  19-22  (from  E); 
Ex.  iii.  2-4^,  5,  7-9^3^,  16-18  (from  J) ;  and 
Ex.  vi.  2-8  (from  P).  These  accounts 
agree  that  the  central  point  of  the  revela- 
tion was  Yahweh's  determination  to  deliver 
Israel  from  Egypt  and  to  give  it  the  land 
of  Canaan. 

In  this  revelation  two  new  conceptions 
were  involved.  The  first  was  the  moral 
character  of  Yahweh.  The  Hebrews  had 
no  natural  claim  on  him,  and  had  no 
reason  to  expect  that  he,  the  god  of  an  alien 
people,  would  do  anything  for  them.  Nev- 
ertheless, he  took  pity  upon  their  suffer- 
ings, and  determined  to  rescue  them.  A 
being  who  thus  felt  compassion  for  the 
oppressed,  and  came  to  their  help,  even 
though  they  did  not  belong  to  him  and  did 
not  worship  him,  was  a  new  sort  of  divin- 
ity in  the  Semitic  world.  He  was  a  god 
with  a  moral  character,  who  transcended 
the  ancient  limitations  of  tribal  religion. 

43 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Thus,  whatever  Yahweh  may  have  been  for 
the  Kenites,  he  became  something  vastly 
greater  when  Moses  first  conceived  of  him 
as  one  who  freely  and  lovingly  chose  Is- 
rael to  be  his  people. 

In  the  second  place,  Yahweh's  deter- 
mination to  deliver  Israel  implied  that  he 
was  more  powerful  than  other  divinities. 
The  mighty  gods  of  Egypt  could  not  with- 
stand him,  nor  could  the  gods  of  Canaan. 
He  was  no  mere  local  ba^al,  limited  in 
operation  to  the  particular  holy  spot  over 
which  he  presided,  but  he  was  a  being  who 
could  manifest  his  power  even  in  distant 
lands.  In  these  two  new  ideas  that  were 
destined  to  work  a  revolution  in  the  history 
of  religion  we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  a 
genuine  revelation  of  God  to  Moses. 

In  the  strength  of  this  revelation  Moses 

returned  to  Egypt,  where  he  succeeded  in 

winning  the  belief  of  the  people  that  he  was 

a  prophet  sent  by  the  god  of  Sinai.  He  de- 

44 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

mandedof  the  Pharaoh  permission  for  Israel 
to  journey  into  the  desert  to  sacrifice.  At  first 
this  request  was  refused ;  but  in  consequence 
of  a  series  of  catastrophes,  the  Pharaoh  at  last 
grew  alarmed,  and  gave  the  Israelites  per- 
mission to  depart.  Then,  repenting  of  his 
weakness,  he  pursued  after  them  with  the 
intention  of  slaying  them.  Shut  in  between 
the  sea  and  the  enemy,  their  destruction 
seemed  inevitable,  but  at  the  critical  mo- 
ment deliverance  came.  A  strong  east  wind 
that  blew  all  night  drove  back  the  shallow 
water  of  the  Sea  of  Sedge  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  the  fugitives  were  able  to  ford  the 
channel  connecting  it  with  the  Red  Sea 
and  thus  to  make  their  escape.  In  this 
event  Moses  and  the  rest  of  the  nation  saw 
indisputable  evidence  that  Yahweh  had  in- 
deed chosen  Israel  to  be  his  people,  and  that 
he  was  more  powerful  than  all  the  gods  of 
Egypt. 

When  Sinai  was  reached,  according  to 

45 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

all  the  documents,  Moses  made  a  covenant 
between  Israel  and  Yahweh  on  the  basis 
of  a  code  called  "  the  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant," or  "  the  Ten  Words."  This  code  has 
come  down  to  us  in  the  Pentateuch  in  four 
different  forms.  The  first  is  a  brief  recen- 
sion incorporated  by  J  in  Ex.  xxxiv.  10-26. 
It  is  called  "  the  Words  of  the  Covenant, 
the  Ten  Words,"  and  is  said  to  have  been 
written  by  Moses  on  tablets  in  Mount 
Sinai.'  The  second  is  a  much  more  ex- 
panded recension  incorporated  by  the  E 
document  in  Ex.  xx.  23-xxiii.  19.  It  is  called 
"the  Book  of  the  Covenant,"  and  is  also 
said  to  have  been  written  by  Moses  at  Sinai.* 
The  third  is  found  in  Deut.  v.  6-21.  It  is 
called  "the  Covenant,"  and  is  said  to  have 
been  written  by  God  on  two  tables  of  stone 
and  given  to  Moses  at  Horeb-Sinai.^  The 
fourth  is  a  late  intrusion  in  the  E  document 
in  Ex.  XX.  2-17.  Here   it  is   called  "the 

*  Ex.  xxxiv.  10,  27  f.    2  Ex.  xxiv.  4,  7.     ^  Deut.  v.  3,  22. 

46 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

Words,"  and  is  said  to  have  been  pro- 
claimed by  God  at  Sinai.'  The  similar  terms 
used  in  speaking  of  these  documents,  and 
the  similar  circumstances  under  which  they 
were  produced,  show  that  they  are  only 
variant  forms  of  the  same  original.  When 
we  examine  their  contents  more  closely,  it 
appears  that  in  large  measure  they  are 
parallel  to  one  another.  The  relation  of  the 
parallels  is  exhibited  in  the  following  table : 


E» 


1 

Ex.  xxxiv.  14 

Ex.  XX.  23a 

Ex.  XX 

.3 

Deut.  v.  7 

3 

Ex.  xxxiv.  17 

Ex.  XX.  233 

Ex.  XX 

•4 

Deut.  v.  8 

3 

Ex.  xxxiv.  19 

Ex.  xxii.  293-30 

4 

Ex.  xxxiv.  20c 

Ex.  xxiii.  153 

Ex.  XX. 

-7 

Deut.  v.  n 

S 

Ex.  xxxiv.  21 

Ex.  xxiii.  12 

Ex.  XX, 

.8 

Deut.  v.  la 

6 

Ex.  XXXIV,  18 

Ex.  xxiii.  15 

7 

Ex.  xxxiv.  22a 

Ex.  xxiii.  i6a 

8 

Ex.  xxxiv.  22b 

Ex.  xxiii.  i63 

9 

lO 

Ex.  xxxiv.  23 
Ex.  xxxiv.  25a 

Ex.  xxiii.  17 
Ex.  xxiii.  i8a 

11 

Ex.  xxxiv.  253 

Ex.  xxiii.  i83 

la 

Ex.  xxxiv.  26a 

Ex.  xxiii.  19a 

13 

Ex.  xxxiv.  263 

Ex.  xxiii.  193 

H 

Ex.  XX. 

12 

Deut.  V.  16 

IS 

Ex.  XX. 

13 

Deut.  V.  17 

i6 

Ex.  XX. 

14 

Deut.  V.  18 

17 

Ex.  XX. 

IS 

Deut.  V.  19 

i8 

Ex.  XX. 

16 

Deut.  V.  20 

19 

Ex.  XX. 

17 

Deut.  V.  21 

*  Ex.  XX. I. 

47 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

It  is  obvious  that  laws  which  are  found  in 
only  one  recension  cannot  be  primitive,  but 
must  be  due  to  expansion  in  that  particular 
recension.  Only  laws  that  appear  in  two  or 
more  recensions  can  have  stood  in  the  origi- 
nal Book  of  the  Covenant.  The  laws  num- 
bered I,  2,  4,  5  in  the  table  are  found  in  all 
four  recensions,  and  must,  therefore,  have 
belonged  to  the  earliest  draft.  Concerning 
the  remainder  of  the  code,  the  recensions 
divide  into  two  groups,  J  and  E  agreeing 
in  a  different  legislation  from  E'  and  D.  As 
to  which  of  these  groups  we  should  prefer 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  J  and  E  belong  to 
the  ninth  or  the  eighth  century  B.  c,  and 
stand  much  nearer  to  Mosaic  times  than  E^ 
and  D  which  belong  to  the  seventh  century. 
Laws  2  and  5  are  not  so  primitive  in  E^  and 
D  as  in  J  and  E.  Moreover,  the  Covenant 
of  E'  and  D  eliminates  ritual  provisions  and 
substitutes  ethical  ones  in  their  stead,  thus 
showing  the  influence  of  the  ethical  pro- 

48 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

phetic  movement  of  the  eighth  century.  J 
and  E  agree  in  thirteen  laws;  but,  accord- 
ing to  Ex.  xxxiv.  28,  the  code  contained 
originally  only  "ten  words";  three  laws, 
therefore,  must  have  been  added  before  the 
J  and  the  E  traditions  diverged.  These  added 
laws  are  found  most  probably  in  Nos.  6, 7,  8, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  an  amplification 
of  No.  9  designed  to  adapt  the  code  to  the 
conditions  of  settled  life  in  Canaan.  The 
original  Book  of  the  Covenant,  or  Ten 
Words,  may  then  be  reconstructed  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

1 .  Thou  shalt  worship  no  other  god. 

2.  Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

3.  All  that  openeth  the  womb  is  mine. 

4.  None  shall  appear  before  me  empty-handed. 

5.  Six  days  thou  shalt  work,  but  on  the  seventh 

day  thou  shalt  rest. 

6.  Three  times  in  the  year  all  thy  males  shall  ap- 

pear before  Yahweh-Elohim. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice 

with  leavened  bread. 

49 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

8.  The  fat  of  my  sacrifice  shall  not  remain  until 

the  morning. 

9.  The  first  of  thy  first  fruits  thou  shalt  bring  unto 

the  abode  of  Yahweh  thy  God. 
10.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's  milk. 

The  first  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  wor- 
ship  no  other  god/'  was  a  logical  corollary 
of  the  Mosaic  conception  of  Yahweh.  If  he 
had  chosen  Israel,  and  was  strong  enough 
to  redeem  it,  he  alone  deserved  to  be  wor- 
shiped. This  was  not  monotheism,  but  only 
monolatry.  It  did  not  say,  "Thou  shalt  not 
believe  that  there  are  other  gods,"  but  only, 
"Thou  shalt  not  worship  any  other  god.'' 
This  was  the  standpoint  of  Mosaism  and 
also  of  the  old  Hebrew  religion  down  to 
the  times  of  the  prophets.  It  appears  in  the 
ancient  song  of  Deborah  *  and  in  the  ancient 
personal  name  Micah,  "  Who  is  like  Yah- 
weh."' Cf.  also  Ex.  XV.  11:  "Who  is  like 
unto  thee,  O  Yahweh,  among  the  gods." 

»  Judg.  V.  3-ii«  *  Judg.  xvii.  I. 

50 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

Through  this  doctrine  Moses  transformed 
Israel  from  an  aggregation  of  independent 
tribes  into  a  nation. 

The  second  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt 
make  thee  no  molten  gods/'  or  as  the  E  re- 
cension reads,  "  Gods  of  silver,  or  gods  of 
gold,  ye  shall  not  make  unto  you,"  is  not  a 
general  prohibition  of  images,  but  only  of 
the  gold  and  silver  idols  used  in  Egypt  and 
Canaan,  All  the  sacred  objects  of  primitive 
Semitism  were  retained  by  Moses  in  the 
worship  of  Yahweh.  Sinai  still  remained 
"  the  mount  of  god,''  The  sacred  spring  at 
Kadesh,  "the  sanctuary,"  was  still  called 
^En-mishpat,  "  the  spring  of  decision." '  Ac- 
cording to  E,  Moses  himself  set  up  twelve 
massebothy  or  "  standing  stones,"  at  Sinai.* 
The  ark  also  was  a  visible  representation  of 
Yahweh.  When  it  went  forward  Moses  said : 

"  Rise  up,  Yahweh,  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered ; 
And  let  them  that  hate  thee  flee  before  thee."  3 

*  Gen.  xiv.  7.  ^        ^  Ex.  xxiv.  4.  '  Num.  x.  35  J. 

51 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

When  it  did  not  go  into  battle,  Israel  was 
defeated.'  The  sweeping  prohibition  of  all 
images  in  the  second  commandment  accord- 
ing to  E^  and  D  ^  is  a  fruit  of  the  theology 
of  the  prophets.  It  did  not  exist  in  Mosaism 
or  in  the  early  religion  of  Israel.^ 

The  third  law,"  All  that  openeth  the  womb 
is  mine,''  demands  sacrifice  of  the  first- 
born of  man  and  beast.  In  the  J  recension, 
Ex.  xxxiv.  20,  it  is  provided  that  children 
shall  be  redeemed,  but  this  is  not  found  in 
the  parallel  E  recension  (Ex.  xxii.29),  "The 
firstborn  of  thy  children  shaltthou  give  unto 
me,''  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  original. 
Sacrifice  of  firstborn  children  was  a  primi- 
tive Semitic  custom,  and,  as  archaeology 
and  history  show,  lasted  in  Israel  down  to 
the  exile.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted,  there- 
fore, that  this  law  was  understood  at  first 
with  gruesome  literalness.   Ezek.  xx.  25  f. 

1  Num.  xiv.  44  f.  J;  Josh.  vii.  3  f.  J;  cf.  Josh.  vii.  6  J. 

2  Ex.  XX.  4;  Deut.  v.  8.  ^  See  p.  8o. 

52 


THE  MOSAIC  PERIOD 

goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  Yahweh  gave 
Israel  this  particular  commandment  in 
wrath  in  order  that  he  might  make  them 
desolate.' 

The  remaining  laws  of  the  code  are  all 
adaptations  of  earlier  Semitic  institutions. 
In  other  respects  also  we  must  suppose  that 
Moses  left  most  of  the  rites  of  primitive 
Semitism  unchanged. 

The  covenant  code  contains  no  ethical 
requirements,  nevertheless  these  were  log- 
ically involved  in  the  Mosaic  conception  of 
Yahweh.  The  god  who  took  pity  upon  an 
alien  race  and  delivered  it  from  its  bondage 
in  Egypt  was  one  who  naturally  required 
his  worshipers  to  help  the  distressed.  In  the 
earliest  historical  records  Yahweh  already 
appears  as  the  champion  of  righteousness 
and  the  friend  of  the  oppressed.  The  germ 
of  this  development  must  be  sought  at 
the  beginning  of  the  religion  of  Israel,  even 

^  See  p.  94. 

53 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

though  no  precise  information  on  the  sub- 
ject has  come  down  to  us;  and  in  this  fun- 
damentally ethical  character  we  see  the 
clearest  evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of 
Mosaism. 


IV 


THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF  CA- 
NAAN 

The  Canaanites  were  a  Semitic  people 
closely  akin  to  the  Hebrews  and  to  the 
Arabs,  Their  earliest  religion,  as  archaeolog- 
ical research  shows,  was  practically  identical 
with  that  of  the  primitive  Semites  described 
in  chapter  L'  This  religion,  however,  was 
greatly  modified  by  long-continued  Baby- 
lonian influence.  From  inscriptions  dis- 
covered within  the  last  few  years  it  is  now 
known  that  between  3000  and  1700  b.  c. 
Palestine  stood  almost  constantly  under 
the  rule  of  Babylonia.  The  result  was  that, 
as  early  as  2000  b.  c,  the  civilization  of 
Babylonia  was  thoroughly  established  in 
Canaan.    The  depth  of  the  impression  is 

^  See  Paton,  articles  ** '  Ashtart,  Baal,  Canaan,"  in  Hast- 
ings* EncyclopcBdia  of  Religion  and  Ethics, 

55 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

strikingly  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  14CX) 
B.  c,  after  Canaan  had  been  two  hundred 
years  under  Egyptian  rule,  its  people  still 
used  Babylonian  for  correspondence  with 
the  Pharaoh  and  with  one  another  in  the 
so-called  Tell  el-Amarna  letters.  Under 
these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising 
that  Babylonian  religion  gained  a  firm  foot- 
hold in  the  land,  and  was  subsequently  in- 
herited from  the  Canaanites  by  the  He- 
brews/ 

The  sanctuaries  of  Canaan  were  as  nu- 
merous as  the  gods.  Many  of  them  can  be 
recognized  by  the  meaning  of  the  place- 
names  that  occur  in  Egyptian  inscriptions 
prior  to  the  Hebrew  conquest,  in  the  Tell  el- 
Amarna  letters,  and  in  the  Old  Testament. 
Thus  we  meet  Kadesh,  "the  sanctuary"; 
Hosah,  "asylum";  Tibhath,  "sacrifice"; 
Norp'a,  "healing-place";  Akshaph,  "sor- 
cery";  Hekalayim,  "two  temples";   Bit- 

*  See  Paton,  Early  History  0}  Syria  and  Palestine,  chap.  iv. 

56 


PERIOD  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN 

arha,  "  house  of  the  new  moon  ";  Bit-NIN- 
IB,  "  house  of  the  (Babylonian)  god  NIN- 
IB";  Bur-Selem,  "the  well  of  Selem"; 
Sidon  (from  the  god  Sid) ;  Uru-salim 
(Jerusalem),  "city  of  Shalem";  Beer- 
Sheba,  "the  well  of  the  Seven";  Beth- 
/Anath,  "house  of  ^Anath'';  ^En-Shemesh, 
"spring  of  the  sun'';  Migdal-Gad,  "tower 
of  the  god  of  fortune";  "Beth-Lehem, 
"  house  of  Lahmu  ";  Beth-Dagon,  "  house 
of  Dagon";  Ba^^l-perazim,  "ba^al  of  the 
clefts";  Ba^al-hamon,  "ba^al  of  the  tor- 
rent"; ^Emek  ha-elah,  "valley  of  the  sa- 
cred tree";  Nebo,  named  after  the  Baby- 
lonian god  Nabu;  Ir-nahash,  "city  of  the 
serpent";  ^Emek-rephaim,  "valley  of  the 
ghosts";  Gilgal,  "the  stone  circle";  Gi- 
be^ath  ha-elohim,  "  hill  of  the  gods  ";  Ba^al- 
tamar,  "  ba^al  of  the  palm-tree  ";  ^Anathoth, 
"the  ^Anaths";  Ba^al-hazor,  "ba^al  of  the 
enclosure";  Beth-el,  "house  of  the  god"; 
Timnath-heres,    "precinct   of    the    sun"; 

57 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Ba^al-shalisha;  Beth-Shemesh,  "house  of 
the  sun'';  Gibe^ath  ham-more,  "hill  of  the 
oracle'';  Migdal-el,  "tower  of  the  god"; 
Ne^el,  "trembling  (?)  of  the  god";  Tim- 
nah,  "sacred  precinct";  Ba^al-Gad,  Dan, 
"the  judge";  ^Ashtaroth,  "the  Astartes," 
probably  to  be  read  as  a  singular  ^Ashtart; 
Be^eshtarah,  or  Beth-^Ashtart;  Zaphon, 
"the  north";  Penu-el,  "face  of  the  god"; 
Ba^al-Pe^or ;  Beth-ba^al-Me^on ;  Bamoth- 
ba^al,  "high  places  of  the  ba^al";  Nahali-el, 
"brook  of  the  god."  Many  of  these  names, 
such  as  Kadesh,  Beth-^Ashtart,  Beth-^An- 
ath,  Beth-Dagon,  Beth-Shemesh  occur  sev- 
eral times  as  place-names  in  different  parts 
of  the  land. 

The  conquest  of  Canaan  by  Israel  was  a 
process  that  extended  over  several  centu- 
ries. The  aborigines  were  not  exterminated, 
but  certain  Hebrew  clans  forced  their  way 
into  the  land,  and  occupied  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, while   the    walled   cities  remained 

58 


PERIOD  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN 

for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  the  Ca- 
naanites/  For  a  long  while  there  was  hos- 
tility between  the  two  races;  but  gradually 
this  ceased,  and  a  process  of  amalgamation 
began.  Cities  that  could  not  be  conquered 
were  eventually  united  to  Israel  by  treaties 
that  gave  them  full  political  rights.  Whole 
tribes  that  made  peace  and  accepted  the 
worship  of  Yahweh  were  incorporated  into 
the  nation  and  counted  as  "  sons  of  Israel." 
In  process  of  time,  through  conquest,  treaty, 
or  intermarriage,  Canaanites  and  Hebrews 
were  fused  into  one  people  and  dwelt  in 
the  same  cities,  as  was  the  case,  for  in- 
stance, in  Shechem  in  the  days  of  Abime- 
lech.*  The  Israel  of  David's  day  was  not 
the  lineal  descendant  of  the  nation  that 
entered  Canaan  under  Moses  and  Joshua, 
but  was  a  hybrid  race  composed  partly  of 
Israelites  and  partly  of  Canaanites. 

*  Josh.  xiii.  13;  .  xvii.  12  f.;  Judg.  1. 19-21,  27-36. 

*  Judges,  chap.  ix. 

59 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

This  mixing  of  races  could  not  occur 
without  appropriation  by  the  Hebrews  of 
the  civilization  of  their  predecessors.  Just 
as  Rome*  learned  from  Greece,  and  as  the 
northern  barbarians  learned  from  Rome, 
so  the  uncivilized  Israelites  learned  from 
the  highly  cultured  Canaanites.  From  them 
they  received  the  forms  of  city-life  and  the 
institutions  of  city-government  From  them 
they  learned  agriculture  and  all  the  other 
industries  of  settled  society.  With  this 
came  inevitably  the  adoption  of  the  local 
gods  of  Canaan.  Agriculture  could  not  be 
carried  on  without  observing  the  ceremo- 
nies that  accompanied  the  planting  of  the 
grain  and  the  reaping  of  the  harvest.  Altars, 
shrines,  sacred  trees,  and  holy  stones  in  all 
parts  of  the  land  were  appropriated,  and 
with  them  the  divinities  and  the  sacred 
traditions  that  belonged  to  them.  As  the 
Book  of  Judges  and  the  early  prophets 
repeatedly  inform  us,  "Israel  served  the 
60 


PERIOD  OF  THE  CONQUEST  OF  CANAAN 

Be^alim  and  the  ^Ashtaroth,"  that  is,  along- 
side of  Yahweh/the  national  god,  it  also 
worshiped  the  local  numina  of  the  land 
that  it  had  conquered.  Through  this  pro- 
cess it  lost  in  large  measure  the  political 
unity  that  had  been  achieved  by  Moses, 
and  split  up  into  a  number  of  small  inde- 
pendent communities,  like  those  of  the 
Canaanites. 

In  consequence  of  this  decline,  about  1050 
B.  c,  it  was  conquered  by  the  Philistines. 
The  ark  was  taken  captive,  and  its  sanctuary 
at  Shiloh  was  destroyed.'  Hebrew  nation- 
ality and  Hebrew  religion  were  now  in 
danger  of  extinction,  and  would  doubtless 
have  perished,  but  for  the  liberation  of 
new  spiritual  forces  through  the  appear- 
ance of  Samuel  and  the  sons  of  the  pro- 
phets and  the  founding  of  the  monarchy. 

*  I  Sam.  iv. ;  Jer.  xxvi.  6. 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


V 

THE    PERIOD    OF    THE    EARLY    MONARCHY 

For  the  religion  of  the  period  between 
Saulj  the  first  Hebrew  king  (1020  b.  c), 
and  Amos,  the  first  of  the  writing  prophets 
(760  B.  c),  we  have  copious  contemporary 
sources.  Alphabetic  writing  was  first  intro- 
duced into  Palestine  about  1000  b.  c,  and 
in  the  course  of  the  succeeding  century 
knowledge  of  this  art  spread  rapidly  among 
the  Hebrews.  In  the  time  of  David  we  find 
the  first  mention  of  scribes  and  recorders 
at  the  king's  court,  and  after  the  death  of 
Solomon  the  first  books  appear.  Collections 
of  poems,  such  as  the  "Book  of  Jasher" 
and  "  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Yahweh,''  were 
soon  followed  by  the  Judaean  documents 
that  have  been  used  in  the  compilation  of 
Kings,  Samuel,  Judges,  and  the  Hexateuch 
62 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

(Pentateuch  and  Joshua).  After  806  B.C., 
when  Damascus  was  crippled  by  the  Assyr- 
ian king  Adad-nirari  III,  and  there  was  rest 
from  the  devastating  Syrian  wars,  literature 
began  to  flourish  in  the  northern  kingdom. 
The  Ephraimitic  history  of  Ahab  and  his 
descendants,  the  biographies  of  Elijah  and 
Elisha,  the  annals  of  the  kings,  and  the  tales 
of  the  prophets, —  all  incorporated  into  the 
later  Book  of  Kings,  — the  Ephraimitic  doc- 
uments in  Samuel,  Judges,  and  the  Hexa- 
teuch,  including  the  E  recension  of  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant  in  Ex.  xx.-xxiii.,  and 
the  Blessing  of  Moses  in  Deut.  xxxiii,  are 
written  records  that  were  produced  in  the 
two  centuries  between  the  division  of  the 
kingdom  and  the  appearance  of  Amos. 
From  these  we  are  able  to  reconstruct  the 
religion  of  this  period  with  more  complete- 
ness and  certainty  than  has  been  possible 
in  any  previous  era. 

The  man  who  did  most  to  save  Israel 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

from  the  consequences  of  its  mingling  with 
the  Canaanites  was  Samuel,  the  seer  of 
Ramah.  He  was  consecrated  by  his  mother 
before  his  birth  to  the  service  of  Yahweh, 
and  in  early  childhood  received  an  inaugu- 
ral vision  which  assured  him  that  he  was 
called  to  be  a  prophet.  After  the  fatal  battle 
of  Ebenezer  he  came  forward  as  a  leader 
who  commanded  general  confidence.  He 
saw  clearly  that  Israel's  political  decline  was 
due  to  its  defection  from  Yahweh,  and  that 
its  only  hope  of  salvation  lay  in  a  return  to 
the  God  of  Moses.  In  the  realization  of  this 
aim  he  had  the  help  of  the  guilds  of  the 
^'  sons  of  the  prophets.''  These  lived  in  com- 
munities under  the  direction  of  a  "  father." 
Like  the  modern  orders  of  dervishes  in  the 
Orient,  they  cultivated  ecstasy  as  a  means 
of  obtaining  revelation.'  Their  clairvoyant 
powers  were  used  in  giving  advice  to  peo- 

^  I  Sam.  X.  10-12;  xix.  18-24;    Num.    xi.  24-29;  xxiv. 
16;  II  Kings  iii.  15;  ix.  11. 

64 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

pie  who  inquired  of  them.  Thus  Samuel 
told  Saul  where  his  father's  lost  asses  were,' 
Gad  advised  David  in  regard  to  his  mili- 
tary operations,'  Ahijah  of  Shiloh  informed 
the  wife  of  Jeroboam  about  her  sick  child,' 
Elisha  threw  light  on  all  sorts  of  problems 
of  politics  and  of  daily  life.  On  this  side  of 
his  activity  the  prophet  was  known  as  rcPeh^ 
or  "seer.''  It  described  him  as  one  who 
sought  to  look  into  the  divine  purposes  to 
gratify  human  curiosity.  In  this  respect  he 
was  akin  to  the  seer  of  primitive  Semitic 
religion. 

There  was,  however,  another  side  to  his 
ministry.  He  was  one  who  realized  pro- 
foundly the  moral  nature  of  Yahweh  and 
the  demand  for  righteousness  that  he  made 
upon  Israel.  On  this  side  of  his  activity  he 
was  known  as  nabt\  "  proclaimer,"  a  term 

*  I  Sam.  X.  2. 

»  I  Sam.  xxii.  5;  II  Sam.  ii.  i;  v.  17-19,  22-25. 

'  I  Kings  xiv.  3. 

65 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

which  described  him  as  an  inspired  person 
through  whom  God  came  to  men  to  redeem 
them.  In  I  Sam.  ix.  9  we  read,  "He  that 
is  now  called  a  prophet  (nabz^)  was  before- 
time  called  a  seer  {ro^eJi).^'^  This  shows  that 
at  one  time  the  function  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet  was  purely  oracular.  In  later  days 
the  name  ro^eh  went  out  of  use,  and  nabV 
alone  remained,  because  the  prophets  had 
ceased  to  be  clairvoyants,  and  had  be- 
come preachers  of  righteousness.  In  the 
period  of  the  early  monarchy  the  two  func- 
tions were  united. 

In  order  to  impress  the  people  and  to  re- 
call them  to  their  allegiance  to  Yahweh, 
the  sons  of  the  prophets  went  about  the 
land  in  companies  with  music  and  song, 
appealing  to  the  emotions  of  the  common 
people  much  after  the  manner  of  a  modern 
revivalist.  Saul  owed  his  enthusiasm  for 
Yahweh  to  the  fact  that  he  "got  religion " 
at  one  of  these  prophetic  meetings,  and 
66 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

many  others-  must  have  been  roused  in  the 
same  way  to  heroic  self-sacrifice  for  God 
and  fatherland. 

Alongside  of  the  seer  stood  the  soothsayer 
.also  as  a  champion  of  Yahweh.  The  kohen 
or  "priest"  of  this  period  was  the  lineal 
descendant  of  the  kahin  or  "diviner"  of 
primitive  Semitism.  Wherever  we  meet 
him  in  the  Books  of  Judges  or  Samuel  his 
duty  is  not  sacrificial  but  oracular.  By 
means  of  the  ephod; '  or  by  the  sacred  lot 
of  Urim  and  Thummim  *  he  obtained  toroth^ 
or  oracular  responses,  in  reply  to  inquiries 
of  the  nation  or  of  individuals.  Many  of  the 
priests  were  Levites,  and  the  peculiar  en- 
thusiasm of  this  tribe  for  Yahweh  is  attested 
by  a  number  of  early  passages; '  but  men  of 
other  tribes  were  also  priests. 

*  Judg.  xvii.  5;  I  Sam.  xiv.  18-20,  in  the  Greek;  xxi.  9; 
xxii.  10;  xxiii.  6,  9;  xxx.  7  f. 

^  I  Sam.  xiv.  36-42;  xxviii.  6;  Deut.  xxxiii.  8. 

'  Cf.  Ex.  xxxii.  25-29;  Gen.  xxxiv.  25-30;  Deut.  xxxiii. 
8-10. 

67 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

The  sages,  who  also  were  a  survival  from 
primitive  Semitic  religion,  formed  still  a 
third  class  of  champions  for  Yahweh.  Speci- 
mens of  their  proverbs  and  parables  have 
been  preserved  in  Judg.  ix.  7-20;  xiv.  14, 18; 
XV.  16.  The  early  kings  also  were  regarded 
as  endowed  by  Yahweh  with  supernatural 
skill  for  the  guidance  of  the  nation.  Solo- 
mon in  particular  was  so  famous  for  his 
wisdom  that  by  later  generations  he  was 
regarded  as  the  father  of  the  entire  gnomic 
literature.'  Jonadab,  Amon's  friend,  was  "a 
very  wise  man."  *  A  wise  woman  of  Tekoah 
had  so  great  a  reputation  that  Joab  sought 
her  aid  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
David  and  Absalom.^  A  wise  woman  of 
Abel  persuaded  Joab  to  make  peace  with 
the  city  of  Abel,  and  the  men  of  the  city  to 
cut  off  the  head  of  Sheba.^  "The  counsel 
of  Ahithophel  which  he  counselled  in  those 

*  Cf.  I  Kings  iii.  4-28;  iv.  29-34.        '  II  Sam.  xiv.  2  ff. 
^  II  Sam.  xiii.  3.  *  II  Sam.  xx.  16-22. 

68 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

days  was  as  if  a  man  inquired  at  the  oracle 
of  God." ' 

All  these  leaders  of  Hebrew  thought  per- 
ceived that  the  only  way  to  save  Israel  from 
the  Philistines  was  to  forsake  the  gods  of 
Canaan  and  to  return  to  Yahweh,  and  in 
this  recognition  once  more  we  perceive  a 
revelation  of  the  true  God.  Some  extrem- 
ists, such  as  the  Kenites  and  the  Nazarites, 
wished  also  to  reject  agriculture,  life  in 
towns,  and  the  other  elements  of  Canaanite 
civilization  that  were  associated  with  the 
ba^als;  but  the  wisest  men  saw  that  it  was 
impossible  to  return  to  the  life  of  the  desert. 
If  the  ba^als  were  to  be  conquered,  it  could 
only  be  by  appropriating  to  the  service  of 
Yahweh  all  that  had  hitherto  belonged  to 
them.  Through  the  efforts  of  these  leaders 
Yahweh  finally  triumphed,  not  by  ignoring 
the  ba^als,  or  by  destroying  them,  but  by 
absorbing  them.   Here,  as  in  other  periods 

*  II  Sam.  xvi.  23. 

69 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

of  its  history,  it  was  an  evidence  of  the 
divine  vitality  of  the  religion  of  Israel  that 
it  was  able  to  take  the  best  from  the  systems 
of  thought  with  which  it  came  into  contact 
without  losing  its  own  identity. 

All  the  titles  that  had  originally  belonged 
to  the  gods  of  Canaan  were  now  applied  to 
Yahweh,  The  general  appellative  El, 
"god,"  became  his  personal  name.  The 
plural  Elohim  was  construed  as  a  singular, 
and  applied  also  to  him.  The  compound 
name  Yahweh-Elohim  was  formed  to  ex- 
press the  idea  that  the  various  elohim  were 
aspects  of  him.  Sebaoth,  "  hosts,"  seems  to 
have  been  an  ancient  designation  of  the 
multitude  of  deities.  It  also  was  treated  as 
a  singular,  and  was  used  to  form  the  com- 
pound name  Yahweh-Sebaoth.  The  name 
Ba^al  also  became  a  synonym  of  Yahweh, 
and  the  numerous  ba'als  were  regarded  as 
his  local  manifestations. 

This  process  of  syncretism  has  left  an 
70 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

interesting  monument  in  personal  names  of 
the  period  of  the  early  monarchy,  namely, 
Jerub-ba^al,  Ish-ba^al,  Meri-ba^al,  Ba^al- 
yada^,  Ba^al-hanan.  No  names  of  this  type 
are  found  after  the  time  of  David.  In  most 
of  these  it  is  certain  that  ba^al  is  not  a  for- 
eign god,  but  a  title  of  Yahweh.  In  one 
case,  Ba^al-Yah,  "the  ba^al  is  Yahweh,'' 
the  identity  of  the  ba^al  with  Yahweh  is  as- 
serted. In  popular  conception  in  the  time  of 
Hosea  the  ba^als  were  not  foreign  gods,  but 
local  Yahwehs.  Hos.  ii.  i6  says  that  Israel 
has  called  Yahweh  ba^al,  and  ii.  1 1, 13  iden- 
tify the  feasts  of  Yahweh  with  the  "  days 
of  the  ba^als.''  Observe  also  how  in  II  Sam. 
V.  20  David  interprets  the  name  Ba^al- 
perasim  as  meaning  "  Yahweh  hath  broken 
mine  enemies  like  the  breach  of  waters.'' 

In  like  manner  all  the  names  of  kinship 
and  of  authority  that  were  used  by  the  Ca- 
naanites  as  titles  of  their  gods  '  were  applied 

*  See  p.  6. 

71 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

by  the  Hebrews  of  this  period  to  Yahweh. 
Thus  Ab,  ^^  father,"  appears  in  the  personal 
names  Abi-el,  Abi-jah,  and  Abi-nadab; 
^Amm,  "  uncle,"  in  '  Ammi-el,  Eli-^am,  and 
Ithre-^am;  Dod,  "uncle,''  in  Dod-Yahu; 
Ah,  "brother,"  in  Ahi-jah,  and  Ahi-tub; 
Melek  (Molech),  "king,"  in  Ahi-melek, 
Malki-shua^,  and  Malki-jah ;  Adon  (Adonis), 
"  lord,"  in  Adoni-jah,  and  Adoni-ram;  Dan, 
"judge,"  in  Dani-el;  and  Shem,  "  name," 
in  Shemu-el  (Samuel).  In  all  these  cases 
it  is  certain  that  these  titles  do  not  desig- 
nate primitive  Semitic,  or  Canaanite  depart- 
mental gods,  but  have  become  epithets  of 
Yahweh. 

Individual  Canaanite  gods  also  were  iden- 
tified with  him.  Shalom,  or  Shalem, "  peace," 
a  well-known  Canaanite  divinity,  was  com- 
pounded with  Yahweh  in  the  name  Yahweh- 
Shalom.'  Yahweh- Yireh  "*  and  Yahweh- 
Nissi^   are    probably    similar  compounds. 

1  Judg.  vi.  24.  2  Qen^  xxii.  14.  ^  Ex.  xvii.  15. 

72 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

Such  syncretistic  formations  are  common 
among  the  Semites,  e.g.,  ^Ashtar-Chemosh, 
^Attar-^Ate  (Attargatis),  Hadad-Rimmon. 

Other  gods  that  could  not  readily  be 
absorbed  by  Yahweh  were  subordinated 
to  him  as  inferior  beings  that  waited  upon 
him«  This  was  true  particularly  of  celestial 
and  atmospheric  phenomena  that  seemed 
to  possess  more  individuality  than  the  local 
ba'als.  The  term  "  host  of  heaven ''  still 
lingered  in  Hebrew  usage,  and  its  mem- 
bers were  regarded  as  "  sons  of  God,"  i.  e., 
beings  of  a  divine  nature,  but  inferior  to 
Yahweh.'  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were 
still  living  creatures,  but  they  obeyed  the 
God  of  Israel.  The  Cherub,  or  storm-cloud, 
became  the  animated  chariot  upon  which 
he  rode.  The  Seraphim,  or  fiery  serpents, 
i.  e.,  the  lightnings,  became  his  attendants. 

Other  ancient  divinities  became  his 
"  angels,"  or  "  messengers."  Thus  in  Gen, 

*  Gen.  vi.  2,  4  (J). 

73 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

xvi.  13  (J)  El-roi,  the  ba^al  of  the  spring 
at  Beer-lahai-roi,  appears  to  Hagar  as  the 
angel  of  Yahweh;  and  in  Gen.  xxxi.  11,  13 
(E)  the  el  of  the  standing  stone  at  Beth-el 
becomes  the  angel  of  God.  The  plague- 
god  of  the  other  Semites  becomes  Yah- 
weh's  destroying  angel/  In  a  number  of 
early  passages  the  angel  is  discriminated 
from  Yahweh,^  and  this  was  doubtless  the 
original  conception.  In  other  passages  the 
angel  and  Yahweh  are  identified.'  This 
was  the  view  that  ultimately  triumphed. 
The  prophets  from  Amos  to  Jeremiah 
have  no  use  for  the  mediation  of  angels, 
but  represent  everything  as  caused  by  the 
direct  activity  of  Yahweh. 

The  term  "  spirit "  was  also  employed 
to  describe  ancient  gods  that  were  de- 
graded to  the  position  of  servants  of  Yah- 

*  Ex.  xii.  23;   II  Sam.  xxiv.  i6;  II  Kings  xix.  35. 

2  E.  g.,  Gen.  xvi.  11  0);  xxi.  17  (E);  xxiv.  7,  40  (J);  Ex. 
xxiii.  20  (E);  Num.  xx.  16  (E);  Judg.  vi.  12. 

•  E.  g.,  Gen.  xvi.  13;  xxi.  19;  xlviii.  16;  Ex.  iii.  4. 

74 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

weh.  Thus  we  meet  the  expressions 
"  spirit  of  wisdom,  spirit  of  might,  spirit  of 
jealousy,  spirit  of  error,  spirit  of  deep 
sleep,''  for  supernatural  agencies  that  Yah- 
weh  uses  in  dealing  with  men.  The  insan- 
ity of  Saul  was  due  to  "  an  evil  spirit  from 
Yahweh  that  terrified  him,"  *  and  such  in- 
sanity protected  a  man  from  injury,  because, 
as  in  the  modern  Orient,  he  was  regarded 
as  inspired/  To  stir  up  trouble  between 
Abimelech  and  the  Shechemites,  God  sent 
an  evil  spirit  into  them; '  and  in  order  that 
Sennacherib  might  depart,  Yahweh  sent  a 
spirit  into  him/  In  the  more  developed 
Hebrew  theology  these  functions  of  lesser 
spirits  were  absorbed  by  Yahweh. 

Thus  by  degrees,  Yahweh  triumphed 
over  the  ba^als  of  Canaan.  He  ceased  to 
be  the  god  of  Sinai,  and  became  the  god 
of  the   land   in   which   his  people  dwelt. 

*  I  Sam.  xvi.  14.  •  Judg.  ix.  23. 

«  I  Sam.  xxi.  12-15;  xxiv.  7.  *  II  Kings  xix.  7. 

75 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Foreign  lands,  however,  continued  to  stand 
outside  of  his  sphere  of  influence,  and  in 
them  the  ancient  divinities  still  held  sway. 
These  "  strange  gods  '^  were  regarded  as 
real  and  powerful  beings.'  In  Judg.  xi.  24 
Jephthah  says  to  the  king  of  Ammon, "  Wilt 
thou  not  possess  that  which  Chemosh,  thy 
god,  giveth  thee  to  possess  ?  So  whomso- 
ever Yahweh,  our  god,  hath  dispossessed 
from  before  us,  them  will  we  possess."  In 
I  Sam.  xxvi.  19  David  laments  that  by  being 
driven  out  of  the  land  of  Israel  he  is  pre- 
cluded from  the  worship  of  the  national 
god:  "They  have  driven  me  out  this  day, 
that  I  should  have  no  share  in  the  inherit- 
ance of  Yahweh,  saying.  Go,  serve  other 
gods.''  In  II  Kings  iii.  27  Chemosh  the  god 
of  Moab  is  placated  by  a  sacrifice,  and 
compels  Israel  to  return  to  its  own  land. 
In  similar  fashion  Sheol,  the  abode  of  the 

*  Ex.  XV.  11;   I   Kings  xi.  33;   II  Kings  1.2  f.;  iii.  27; 
Deut.  iv.  19;  xxix.  26. 

76 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

dead,  was  regarded  as  lying  outside  of 
Yahweh's  authority.  In  the  narrative  of  J  ^ 
it  is  not  mentioned  along  with  "  earth  and 
heaven  "  as  created  by  him,  and  nowhere 
in  the  Old  Testament  is  its  creation  re- 
ferred to.  It  also  was  a  foreign  land  pre- 
sided over  by  its  own  gods,  the  spirits  of 
the  dead.  The  primitive  belief  in  the  super- 
human powers  of  these  spirits  was  left  un- 
disturbed by  early  Yahwism. 

When  Yahweh  had  absorbed  the  nature 
gods  and  departmental  gods  of  Canaan,  it 
was  natural  that  he  should  assume  their 
functions.  He  made  earth  and  sky,  he 
planted  the  garden  of  Eden,  and  caused  a 
fountain  to  spring  up  out  of  the  earth  to 
water  it.  He  moulded  man  and  beast  out 
of  dust,  and  made  them  live  by  breathing 
his  breath  into  them."*  The  sun,  moon  and 
stars  obeyed  his  command-  He  appeared 
in  storm,  lightning,  fire,  and  earthquake, 

1  Gen.  ii.  4&  ff .  .      ^  Gen.  ii.  4  ff.  (J.) 

77 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

when  he  went  forth  to  punish  or  to  rescue 
his  people/  The  thunder  was  his  voice, 
the  lightnings  were  his  arrows,  the  rainbow 
was  his  bow.  He  marched  before  Israel  in 
the  desert  and  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan 
in  a  cloud  of  smoke  by  day  and  of  fire  by 
night,  and  in  a  similar  cloud  he  took  pos- 
session of  Solomon's  temple.  He  sent  rain 
and  dew,  or  shut  up  the  windows  of  heaven 
if  he  were  displeased.  He  caused  the  wild 
plants  of  the  earth  to  grow  *  and  gave  the 
fruits  of  the  field  and  the  increase  of  the 
flocks.' 

Along  with  these  higher  manifestations 
of  his  power  there  were  many  survivals  of 
primitive  fetishism.  The  holy  trees,  springs, 
and  stones  of  Canaan  were  regarded  as  his 
dwelling-places.  That  he  was  believed 
actually  to  inhabit  these  objects  is  shown 
by  the  facts  that  the  one  set  up  by  Jacob 

^  Judg.  V.  4  f.;  I  Sam.  xii.  17;  I  Kings  xix.  11  f.;  Psa.  xviii. 
*  Num.  xxiv.  6.  '  Hos.  ii.  5,  8  f. 

78 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

was  called  Beth-el,  "  dwelling  of  God/' '  or 
El-beth-el,  "  God  of  the  dwelling  of  God ; "  ^ 
and  the  one  at  Shechem  (read  "pillar"  in- 
stead of  "altar")  was  called  El-elohe- 
Israel,  "God,  the  God  of  Israel." ^  In 
Josh.  xxiv.  27  it  is  said  of  this  stone,  "It 
hath  heard  all  the  words  of  Yahweh  which 
he  spake  unto  us."  The  Asherim,  or  sacred 
poles,  were  also  appropriated  by  Yahweh. 
Both  in  Samaria  and  in  Jerusalem  they 
stood  in  his  temples.^  Closely  connected 
with  them  was  the  sacred  rod  or  staff 
through  which  the  men  of  God  worked 
miracles  or  gave  oracles.' 

The  ark  still  held  its  own  as  a  dwelling- 
place  of  Yahweh.  When  this  went  into  bat- 
tle, Yahweh  went  with  it.^  When  it  was 
captured  by  the  Philistines  it  brought  dis- 

*  Gen.  xxviii.  22.  •  Gen.  xxxiii.  20. 
'  Gen.  XXXV.  7. 

*  II  Kings  xiii.  6;  xviii.  4;  xxi.  7;  xxiii.  6,  15. 

^  Ex.  iv.  2,  17,  20;  xiv.  16;  .xvii.  9;  Num.  xx.  8  £.;  II 
Kings  iv.  29,  31 ;  Hos.  iv.  12. 
«  I  Sam.  iv.  6  f. 

79 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

aster  upon  them.'  It  led  the  cows  that  trans- 
ported it  back  to  Israel/  The  men  of  Beth- 
shemesh  that  looked  into  it  were  smitten,' 
and  so  also  was  Uzzah  who  touched  it/  It 
was  the  chief  cult-object  in  Solomon's  tem- 
ple/ Images  also  were  in  use,  and  were 
regarded  as  animated  by  Yahweh.  One  of 
these,  the  ephod,  was  a  wooden  figure  cov- 
ered with  plates  of  metal.  Gideon  made 
one  of  gold  and  "  set  it  up "  in  Ophra.^ 
Micah  the  Ephraimite  made  one  of  silver,^ 
and  before  this  Jonathan,  the  grandson  of 
Moses,  and  his  descendants  ministered.^ 
An  ephod  stood  in  the  temple  at  Nob,^ 
where  also  there  was  a  priesthood  that 
claimed  descent  from  Moses  (or  Aaron?). 
The  priests  were  known  as  "  carriers  of  the 
ephod."  At  Bethel  and  Dan  the  images  of 
Yahweh  were  golden  bullocks.'"  It  is  certain 

^  I  Sam.  V.  2-6.       *  II  Sam.  vi.  7.  ^  Judg.  xviii.  30. 

^  I  Sam.  vi.  12.       *  I  Kings  viii.  6.        ®  I  Sam.  xxi.  9. 

»  I  Sam.  vi.  19.       '  Judg.  viii.  27.  ^^  i  Kings  xii.  28. 
'  Judg.  xvii.  4  f. 

80 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

that  these  were  not  regarded  as  representa- 
tions of  foreign  gods,  but  of  Yahweh  him- 
self. Of  the  bullock  that  King  Jeroboam  I 
set  up  at  Bethel  he  said,  "  Behold  thy  God, 
O  Israel,  that  brought  thee  up  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt."  '  The  later  prophetic  pole- 
mic against  images  of  Yahweh  shows  how 
common  they  were  in  the  pre-prophetic  re- 
ligion of  Israel. 

The  functions  of  the  old  Semitic  depart- 
mental deities  were  also  assumed  by  Yah- 
weh. He  was  the  author  of  life  and  the 
sender  of  death.  He  bestowed  health  or  in- 
flicted disease.  He  was  the  giver  of  chil- 
dren. He  was  the  war-god  who  led  his 
people  in  battle  against  their  enemies. 
Blessings  of  all  sorts,  such  as  long  life, 
peace,  prosperity,  and  numerous  descend- 
ants, came  from  his  hand;  and  he  was  the 
cause  of  calamities,  such  as  drought,  famine, 
pestilence,  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  defeat  by 

*  I  Kings,  xii.  28. 
81 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

enemies,  and  strife  within  the  nation.  No 
difficulty  was  felt  in  ascribing  evil  to  his 
immediate  agency.  All  the  events  of  life 
that  the  pre-Mosaic  Hebrews  and  the  Ca- 
naanites  ascribed  to  the  activity  of  particular 
divinities  whether  good  or  bad  the  Hebrews 
of  this  period  ascribed  to  Yahweh. 

"  The  spirit  of  Yahweh  ''  also  absorbed 
the  functions  of  lesser  spirits  that  possessed 
men  and  induced  abnormal  mental  states. 
Extraordinary  strength,  skill,  wisdom,  and 
heroism  were  explained  as  due  to  the  fact 
that  his  spirit  fell  upon  a  man.'  He  also 
sent  dreams  for  the  guidance  of  his  servants, 
and  caused  them  to  see  visions,  or  to  hear 
his  voice* 

As  to  the  nature  of  Yahweh,  the  primitive 
Semitic  conception  of  "  holiness  ''  *  was  still 
fundamental.  This  was  not  yet  construed  in 
an  ethical  sense,  but  described  him  merely 

^  Ex.  xxviii.  3;  xxxi.  3;  Num.  xxvii.  18;  Judg.  vi.  34;  xi. 
29;  xiii.  25;  xiv.  6. 
2  See  p.  14. 

82 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

as  separated  from  men  by  his  superhuman 
existence  and  power.  He  was  regarded  as 
ruah^  "wind,  spirit,"  i.  e.,  as  consisting  of 
an  ethereal  substance,  different  from  flesh, 
but  not  immaterial.  He  had  human  form; 
and  his  eyes,  nostrils,  mouth,  arm,  hand, 
finger,  heart,  and  feet  are  often  mentioned. 
Under  certain  conditions  he  could  become 
visible,  men  could  hear  his  voice,  or  feel  his 
hand  laid  upon  them.  His  activity  was  uni- 
formly described  in  an  anthropomorphic 
fashion. 

He  dwelt  in  the  sky,  from  which  he 
"came  down"  to  visit  men,  and  sent  light- 
ning or  rain  upon  the  earth.'  He  dwelt  also 
at  Sinai,  from  which  he  came  in  the  storm- 
cloud  to  rescue  his  people.*  He  was  mani- 
fest at  the  numerous  sanctuaries  of  Canaan, 
and  here  one  "  appeared  before  his  face." 
He  was  not  present  in  all  these  places  at 

*  Gen.  XI.  5;  xix.  24;  I  Kings  xxii.  19;  II  Kings  vii.  2. 
2  See  p.  38. 

83 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

once,  but  he  was  able  to  move  from  one  to 
the  other  with  great  rapidity.  Outside  o£ 
Canaan  he  was  not  to  be  found,  except  on 
extraordinary  occasions  when  he  invaded 
foreign  lands  on  behalf  of  his  people.'  In 
II  Sam.  XV.  8,  Absalom  vows  a  vow  in 
Geshur,  "  If  Yahweh  shall  indeed  bring  me 
again  to  Jerusalem,  then  will  I  worship 
Yahweh.''  In  II  Kings  v.  17,  Naaman  the 
Syrian  asks  that  he  may  carry  back  two 
mule-loads  of  the  soil  of  Canaan  in  order 
that  upon  it  he  may  worship  Yahweh  at  Da- 
mascus, and  Elisha  approves  of  the  plan. 

In  relation  to  time,  Yahweh  was  regarded 
as  the  "  living  God  "  —  hence  the  oath,  "  As 
Yahweh  liveth "  —  but  he  was  not  con- 
ceived as  eternal  in  any  abstract  theological 
sense.  His  knowledge  was  vast.  He  could 
reveal  hidden  things  and  disclose  the  fu- 
ture. The  thoughts  of  men's  hearts  were 
open  to  him,^  but  he  was  not  omniscient. 

1  See  p.  76.  *  Gen.  xviii.  12  f. 

84 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

He  had  to  go  down  to  see  what  the  build- 
ers of  Babel  were  doing/  and  to  find  out 
about  the  sin  of  Sodom/  His  power  was  so 
great  that  it  was  said  of  him,  "  Is  anything 
too  hard  for  Yahweh/'^  or  "There  is  no 
restraint  to  Yahweh  to  save  by  many  or  by 
few'';*  but  he  was  not  omnipotent,  for  his 
authority  did  not  yet  extend  over  the  uni- 
verse, and  he  was  not  the  only  god.  Nev- 
ertheless he  was  believed  to  be  more  pow- 
erful than  other  gods.  He  cast  down  the 
image  of  Dagon,  and  brought  back  his  ark 
in  triumph.5 

The  mental  life  of  Yahweh  was  con- 
ceived as  analogous  to  that  of  men.  He 
thought,  remembered,  was  grieved,  re- 
pented, was  angry,  loved,  hated,  and  pitied. 
The  original  Mosaic  conception  of  his  char- 
acter as  one  who  had  compassion  upon  the 
distressed   was    still    regarded   as   funda- 

*  Gen.  xi.  5.  ^  Gen.  xviii.  14.  *  I  Sam.  v.-vi. 

^  Gen,  xviii.  21.     *  I  Sam.  xiv.  6. 

85 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

mental.  Toward  Israel  his  attitude  was  hab- 
itually that  of  love  and  fidelity.  He  showed 
mercy  and  truth  unto  his  servant.^  His 
compassion  was  great.*  At  the  same  time 
there  were  inconsistent  elements  of  heathen- 
ism combined  with  this  loftier  conception. 
His  anger  could  break  forth  at  the  most 
unexpected  times,  and  one  was  never  quite 
sure  whether  or  no  one  would  find  him  in 
a  favorable  mood.®  Towards  Israel's  ene- 
mies he  was  uniformly  hostile.  He  was  the 
maintainer  of  righteousness,  justice,  and 
truth  among  men,^  but  he  was  not  bound 
by  the  rules  that  he  prescribed.  Like  Mu- 
hammad's Allah,  he  was  supreme  will 
rather  than  supreme  goodness.  Whether 
he  "heard''  one's  prayer  or  '^hid  his  face" 
and  "  covered  his  eyes "  was  a  matter  of 
his  own  arbitrary  choice.  Some  men  were 
his   favorites,   upon   whom   he   showered 

*  Gen.  xxiv.  27;  xxxii.  10;  II  Sam.  ii.  6. 

*  II  Sam.  xxiv.  14. 

8  II  Sam.  vi.  7  ff.;  xxiv.  i.  *  See  p.  98  ff. 

86 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

blessings.  Others  he  "befooled"  so  that 
their  plans  came  to  naught,  or  "  hardened 
their  hearts"  so  that  heavier  judgments 
came  upon  them.  He  punished  the  innocent 
for  the  guilty/  and  made  Pharaoh  and  Abi- 
melech  bear  the  consequences  of  Abra- 
ham's lie.* 

Yahweh's  fundamental  requirement  in 
this  period,  as  in  the  time  of  Moses,^  was  ex- 
clusive worship  of  himself.  As  independent 
gods  the  ba^als  could  not  receive  homage. 
Only  when  they  were  absorbed  by  him,  and 
were  regarded  as  local  manifestations  of 
himself,  did  they  become  inoffensive.  To- 
ward foreign  divinities  the  religious  leaders 
of  Israel  always  manifested  extreme  hos- 
tility. Both  E  and  J  amplify  the  primitive 
Book  of  the  Covenant  to  emphasize  mono- 
latry.*  Elijah  devoted  his  life  to  the  struggle 
against  the  introduction  of  the  worship  of 

*  II  Sam.  xxi.  9;  xxiv.  17.  '  See  p.  50. 

^  Gen.  xii.  17;  XX.  3  ff.  *  Ex.  xxiii.  and  xxxiv. 

87 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISAREL 

the  Tyrian  Ba^al,  and  denounced  Ahaziah 
for  sending  to  inquire  of  Ba^al-Zebul  (Ze- 
bub  ?)  the  god  of  Ekron.'  According  to  E, 
Jacob  buried  the  "strange  gods"  that  he 
had  brought  from  Mesopotamia  under  the 
oak  at  Shechem/  The  worship  of  spirits 
of  the  dead  fell  under  the  same  ban.  Yah- 
weh  was  "a  jealous  God,"  who  would  not 
tolerate  the  cult  of  ancestors,  heroes,  or 
ghosts,  any  more  than  that  of  other  deities 
of  the  Semitic  world.  Saul  made  an  effort  to 
exterminate  those  who  had  familiar  spirits 
and  the  necromancers;  and  was  so  success- 
ful that,  when  toward  the  close  of  his  reign, 
he  wished  to  consult  a  medium,  he  had  dif- 
ficulty in  finding  one.2  The  commandment 
of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  "Thou  shalt 
not  suffer  a  sorceress  to  live,"  is  also  di- 
rected against  necromantic  arts/  The  pro- 
testation of  the  bringer  of  the  tithe  in  Deut. 

*  I  Kings  xviii.  21  ff.;  II  Kings  i.  16.     *  I  Sam.  xxviii.  9. 
2  Gen.  XXXV.  4.  *  Ex.  xxii.  18. 

88 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

xxvi,  14,  "I  have  not  given  thereof  for  the 
dead,"  is  probably  a  fragment  of  a  liturgy 
that  is  far  older  than  Deuteronomy.  Every- 
thing that  belonged  to  another  god  rendered 
one  "unclean,"  and  debarred  him  from  the 
cult  of  Yahweh.  Thus  animals  that  had 
originally  been  "  holy  "  as  tribal  totems  now 
became  "unclean"  and  must  not  be  eaten. 
The  isanctuaries  of  Yahweh  were  uni- 
formly the  holy  places  of  the  land  of  Canaan 
that  had  been  appropriated  by  the  Hebrews 
as  a  result  of  the  conquest.  Wherever  Yah- 
weh had  supplanted  a  ba^al,  and  inhabited 
a  sacred  tree,  spring,  stone,  or  grave,  there 
a  "  high  place "  was  established  where  an 
altar  was  set  up  and  sacrifice  was  offered. 
More  than  a  hundred  of  these  sanctuaries 
are  mentioned  in  the  older  writings  of  the 
Old  Testament.  In  the  case  of  most  of  them 
it  can  be  shown  that  they  were  primitive 
shrines  of  the  land  of  Canaan.'  Some  of 

*  See  p.  56. 

89 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

them  were  temples,  but  the  majority  were 
simple  inclosures  surrounding  the  sacred 
object  and  altar.  The  altar  was  either  the 
holy  stone  itself  or  was  built  of  earth  or  un- 
hewn stones.'  Of  a  centralization  of  wor- 
ship at  a  single  sanctuary,  such  as  Deut- 
eronomy and  the  Priestly  Code  prescribe, 
no  trace  is  found  in  this  period.  "  In  every 
place  where  I  cause  my  name  to  be  re- 
membered I  will  come  unto  thee  and  bless 
thee,"  says  the  Book  of  the  Covenant.* 

At  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  sanctu- 
aries, such  as  Shiloh,  Nob,  Jerusalem, 
Bethel,  Dan,  priests  were  found.  Some  of 
these  were  Levites,but  membership  in  that 
tribe  was  not  yet  considered  necessary.^ 
The  functions  of  the  priests  were  oracular^ 
not  sacrificial.^  Hence  they  were  not  needed 
at  most  of  the  high  places.   Any  Israelite 

*  I  Sam.  xiv.  33-35;  Ex.  xx.  24  f.  *  Ex.  xx.  24. 

^  Judg.  xvii.  5;  I  Sam.  vii.  i;  II  Sam.  viii.  18;  xx.  26;    I 
Kings  iv.  5;  xii.  31. 

*  See  p.  II. 

90 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

might  sacrifice  at  a  neighboring  altar,  when 
he  wished  to  slay  an  animal  for  food.' 

As  a  result  of  the  absorption  of  Ca- 
naanite  rites  there  also  existed  at  certain 
sanctuaries  the  so-called  KedesMm  and 
Kedeshothj  or  "holy  ones/'  that  is,  men 
and  women  who  were  devoted  to  prostitu- 
tion in  the  service  of  the  deity.  Gen. 
xxxviii.  15  ff.  shows  that  they  were  com- 
mon in  Judah  at  the  time  when  the  J  docu- 
ment was  written,  and  I  Kings  xiv.  24 
mentions  them  in  the  time  of  Rehoboam. 
From  the  prohibitions  of  Deuteronomy  and 
the  Holiness  Code  it  appears  that  they  were 
present  at  the  sanctuaries  of  Yahweh.  Am. 
ii.  7  and  Hos.  iv.  14  show  that  sexual 
excess  at  the  temples  was  regarded  as  an 
act  of  worship. 

The  cult  that  went  on  at  these  sanctuaries 

^  Ex.  XX.  24;  xxiv.  5;  Judg.  vi.  19  f.;  xiii.  19;  I  Sam.  vii. 
17;  x.  8;  xiii.  9;  xiv.  34;  II  Sam.  vi.  17;  I  Kings  xii.  33; 
xviii.  30-38. 

91 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

was  the  same  that  had  always  been  main- 
tained at  them,  only  now  it  was  rendered  to 
Yahweh.  When  he  absorbed  the  local  gods 
of  Canaan,  he  appropriated  to  himself  all  the 
rites  that  had  formerly  belonged  to  them. 
The  few  accounts  that  are  given  of  early  He- 
brew ritual '  show  that  the  forms  of  worship 
were  practically  the  same  as  those  that  have 
already  been  described  for  primitive  Semitic 
religion.*  The  sacrifice  bore  the  ancient 
name  zebah^  "  slaughter."  Every  sacrifice 
was  at  the  same  time  a  killing  for  food,  and 
every  killing  for  food  was  a  sacrifice;  hence 
only  beasts  or  birds  that  were  eaten  might 
be  sacrificed.'  The  animal  was  brought  to 
the  nearest  high  place,  and  there  its  blood 
was  shed  upon  the  holy  stone  or  altar. 
Blood  must  not  be  eaten,  but  must  be  poured 
out  as  a  libation  to  Yahweh;^  hence  the 

*  E.  g.  Num.  xxiii.  1-4;  Judg.  vi.  18-21;  xiii.  15-19;  I. 
Sam.  ii.  13-17;  xiv.  32-35;  II  Sam.  vi.  13;  I  Kings  xviii. 
30-38.  '  Ex.  XX.  24;  Gen.  viii.  20. 

,   *  See  p.  i6f.  *  I  Sam.  xiv.  32-35. 

92 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

prohibition  of  eating  animals  that  had  died 
accidentally/  because  their  blood  had  not 
been  offered.  Part  of  the  zebah  was  burned 
on  the  altar  as  "  the  food  of  God,"  the  rest 
was  eaten  by  the  worshipers.  If  there  were 
several  victims,  some  might  be  wholly  burnt 
as  an  'ola^  "burnt  offering,"  and  others 
wholly  eaten  as  a  shelem^  "peace  offer- 

A 

ing."  * '  OlU  and  shelem  were  thus  the'  two 
halves  of  a  large  zebah.  Of  the  "sin  offer- 
ing" and  the  "guilt  offering"  there  is  no 
trace  in  the  early  literature.  The  firstborn 
of  all  domestic  animals  were  sacrificed  on 
the  eighth  day  after  birth.^ 

Firstborn  children  were  also  sacrificed  to 
Yahweh  in  the  early  period  of  the  occupa- 
tion of  Canaan.  This  was  a  common  custom 
of  the  Canaanites,  and  archaeology  shows 
that  it  did  not  disappear  from  the  Hebrews 
until  after  the  Exile.  Nevertheless,  in  pro- 
phetic circles  opposition  to  it  arose  at  an 

*  Ex.  xxii.  31.      •  Ex.  XX.  24.      '  Ex.  xxii.  30;  xxxiv.  19. 

93 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

early  date.  In  the  J  recension  of  the  Cov- 
enant Code  '  the  original  Mosaic  law  is  en- 
larged with  a  provision  for  the  redemption  of 
children  (absent  from  the  E  recension,  Ex. 
xxii.  29).  The  story  of  Abraham's  attempted 
sacrifice  of  Isaac,  and  Yahweh's  hindering 
of  him,  shows  that  sacrifice  of  the  firstborn 
son  was  a  rite  once  required  by  Yahweh, 
but  now  regarded  by  the  writer  as  no  longer 
demanded.  In  spite  of  prophetic  opposition, 
however,  these  sacrifices  continued  to  be 
offered.*  Melek  (Molech) , "  King,"  was  one 
of  the  titles  of  Yahweh,  and  the  child-sac- 
rifices offered  to  "  the  King  '^  were  under- 
stood by  the  people  as  offered  to  Yahweh.^ 
Sacrifice  of  adults  in  times  of  special  need 
was  also  not  unknown.  Jephthah  offered  his 
daughter  in  fulfilment  of  a  vow,"*  and  Hiel 

*  Ex.  xxxiv.  20;  cf.  xiii.  13. 

^  II  Kings  xvi.  3;  II  Chr.  xxviii.  3;  Mic.  vi.  7;  Jer.  vii.  31; 
xix.  5;  xxxii.  35;  Ezek.  xx.  24-26,  31. 

'  Lev.  xviii.  21;  xx.  2-5;  II  Kings  xxiii.  10;  Jer.  xxxii.  35. 
.    *  Judg.  xi.  31,  39. 

94 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

the  Bethelite  devoted  his  oldest  son,  when 
he  laid  the  foundations  of  Jericho;  and  his 
youngest  son,  when  he  set  up  the  gates/ 

Other  sorts  of  sacrifice  were  first-fruits,^ 
libations,'  anointing  of  the  sacred  stone 
with  oil,^  and  the  presentation  of  cakes  of 
unleavened  bread.^  These  agricultural  of- 
ferings were  borrowed  from  the  cult  of  the 
ba^als  of  Canaan,  hence  they  were  felt  to  be 
less  acceptable  to  Yahweh  than  the  bloody 
sacrifices  of  the  earlier  Hebrew  religion.^ 

The  primitive  Semitic  institution  of  the 
Sabbath  ^  was  retained  in  this  period.  In 
the  earliest  codes  only  agricultural  labor 
is  prohibited  on  this  day,^  In  the  early  his- 
tories we  meet  the  same  conception.^  In 
this  period  the  Sabbath  was  not  primarily 

/  I  Kings  xvi.  34.  '  Gen.  xxxv.  14. 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  19;  Gen.  iv.  3.        *  Gen.  xxviii.  18;  xxxv.  14. 
6  Ex.  xxiii.  18;  Judg.  vi.  20;  xiii.  16,  19;  I  Sam.  xxi.  6. 
«  Gen.  iv.  5  f .  ^  p.  18. 

^  Ex.  xxiii.  12;  xxxiv.  21 ;  cf.  the  analogy  of  the  sabbatical 
year,  Ex.  xxiii.  10  f. 

»  Josh.  vi.  4;  n  Kings  iv.  23;  xi.  5  ff. 

95 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

a  day  of  rest,  but  a  day  of  propitiation  and 
sacrifice.'  Hence  it  was  included  by  the 
later  prophets  in  their  general  condemna- 
tion of  ritual  religion/  The  Sabbath  was 
originally  a  lunar  holy  day,  and  was  com- 
monly associated  with  the  day  of  new 
moon  in  the  phrase  "  new  moons  and  Sab- 
baths." On  the  new  moon  the  Hebrew 
clans  met  for  sacrificial  feasts.' 

The  primitive  Semitic  rite  of  the  Pass- 
over is  known  to  J/  but  is  regarded  as  a 
domestic,  rather  than  a  national  institution, 
and  is  not  yet  combined  with  the  feast  of 
unleavened  bread.  By  E  Passover  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  list  of  holy  days,^  nor 
elsewhere  in  that  document.  Apparently 
the  observance  of  this  feast  had  died  out 
in  the  northern  kingdom  where  E  was 
written. 

The  three  pilgrimage  feasts  of  the  Mo- 

*  II  Kings  xi.  5,  7,  9;  xvi.  18.    *  Ex.  xii.  21-27;  xxxiv.  25. 
«  Hos.  ii.  11-13;  Isa.  i.  13.         ^  Ex.  xxiii.  10-19. 

•  I  Sam.  XX.  5,  18,  24  ff. 

96     . 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

saic  Covenant  Code  '  were  transformed  in 
consequence  of  the  occupation  of  Canaan 
into  agricultural  festivals.  The  "feast  of 
unleavened  bread"  celebrated  the  early 
barley  harvest/  The  "  feast  of  harvest,"  or 
"  of  weeks,"  was  at  the  time  of  the  ripen- 
ing of  the  wheat.'  The  "feast  of  in- 
gathering "  fell  in  the  autumn  when  all  the 
crops  had  been  gathered.^  On  these  occa- 
sions male  Israelites  were  expected  to 
journey  to  one  of  the  greater  national  sanc- 
tuaries.^ 

Other  religious  acts  that  were  not  lim- 
ited to  holy  places  were  circumcision, 
fasting,  prayer,  vows,  blessing,  cursing, 
and.  oaths.  War  was  regarded  as  a  sacred 
duty.  Hence  the  common  expression  for 
"declare   war"  was  "sanctify  war,"  and 

*  See  p.  49. 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  15;  xxxiv.  18. 

3  Ex.  xxiii.  1 6a;  xxxiv.  22a. 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  16b;  xxxiv.  22b;  Judg.  xxi.  19;  I  Kings  viii.  2; 
xii.  32;  Hos.  ix.  5. 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  17;  xxxiv.  23;  I  Sam.  i.  3. 

97 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

the  soldiers  were  known  as  "the  sanctified 
ones."  They  were  so  holy  that  they  could 
eat  of  the  shewbread/  and  the  camp  was 
so  holy  that  nothing  "unclean/'  i.  e.,  under 
the  influence  of  minor  spirits,  could  be  ad- 
mitted to  it/  In  order  to  secure  the  divine 
favor  it  was  customary  to  vow  to  destroy 
the  men,  women,  children,  and  animals 
that  were  found  in  a  city,  if  it  were  cap- 
tured.' 

Morality  also  was  demanded  by  Yah- 
weh,  although  it  was  regarded  as  less  im- 
portant than  ritual.  Everything  that  was 
customary  was  right,  and  was  protected 
by  a  divine  sanction.  The  result  was  that 
many  matters  that  we  should  regard  as 
ethically  indifferent  were  treated  as  reli- 
gious duties,  while  other  matters  that  seem 
to  us  of  the  highest  importance  were  ig- 
nored.   Nevertheless,  a  large   number   of 

*  I  Sam.  xxi.  6.  •  Josh.  y}.  2;;  I  Sam.  xv.  3. 

'  Deut.  XX.  1-9;  xxiii.  9-14;  xxiv.  5. 

98 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

distinctly  moral  obligations  were  by  this 
process  made  a  part  of  religion. 

Toward  members  of  the  family  the  prim- 
itive customs  of  the  desert  were  still  re- 
garded as  divine  requirements.  Reverence 
for  parents  and  regard  for  their  blessing  or 
their  curse  still  showed  survivals  of  primi- 
tive ancestor-worship.'  Striking  or  cursing 
father  or  mother  was  punishable  with 
death.^  Marriage  with  near  relatives  was 
commended.  A  man  might  marry  his  half- 
sister  on  the  father's  side,  but  not  on  the 
mother's  side.'  The  wife  was  the  chattel 
of  her  husband,  like  all  the  rest  of  his  per- 
sonal property,^  but  he  was  not  allowed 
to  put  her  away  arbitrarily.  If  she  were 
barren,  he  could  not  divorce  her,  but  might 
take  one  of  her  maids  as  a  concubine.^ 
Yahweh  rewarded  Leah  for  giving  her 
maid  cheerfully  to  Jacob  under  these  cir- 

^  Gen.  xxvii.  41;  xliv.  30  f.;  1. 15  ff.  *  Ex.  xx.  17. 

'  Ex.  xxi.  15, 17.  *  Gen.  xvi.  3. 

*  Gen.  XX.  12;  II  Sam.  xiii.  13. 

99 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

cumstances.'  Children  had  no  rights  over 
against  their  father.  He  might  sell  them 
into  slavery,  or  offer  them  in  sacrifice  as 
he  saw  fit;  but  parental  affection  secured 
that  ordinarily  they  were  treated  kindly. 
Toward  relatives  there  was  the  same  in- 
tense loyalty  that  is  felt  by  the  Bedawy 
Arab.  "  Let  there  be  no  strife  between  us, 
for  we  are  brethren,"  says  Abraham  to 
Lot*  It  was  one's  duty  to  defend  a  kins- 
man, even  if  he  were  in  the  wrong.  To 
sell  the  family  estate  which  contained  the 
graves  of  the  forefathers  was  a  sin  against 
Yahweh.'  If  a  man  died,  his  brother  must 
take  his  wife  and  "raise  up  seed  unto 
him";  and  neglect  of  this  obligation  was 
severely  punished.^ 

The  duties  which  the  primitive  Semite 
had  recognized  only  in  relation  to  the  clan 
the  religion  of  Yahweh  extended  to  the 

*  Gen.  XXX.  i8.  *  I  Kings  xxi.  3. 

*  Gen.  xiii.  8.  *  Gen.  xxxviii.  7-10. 

100 


,  PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

entire  nation.  The  civil  and  religious  au- 
thorities received  the  title  of  "father," and 
enjoyed  the  same  respect  as  parents/  The 
fellow-Israelite  was  to  be  regarded  as  a 
"brother,"  and  duty  toward  him  was 
summed  up  in  the  phrase  "  kindness  and 
fidelity."^  It  was  called  the  "kindness  of 
God,"  or  "  of  Yahweh,"  because  divinely  re- 
quired. Murder  was  to  be  punished  with 
death,  and  the  duty  of  avenging  it  devolved 
upon  the  nearest  kinsman.'  If  man  did  not 
inflict  the  penalty,  the  blood  cried  from  the 
earth  to  Yahweh,  and  he  avenged  it/  The 
altar  of  God  sheltered  only  the  accidental 
manslayer.  If  the  crime  were  intentional, 
the  murderer  was  to  be  taken  from  the 
asylum  and  delivered  to  the  avenger  of 
blood.5  Injuries  to  men  and  women  were 
punished  with  the  infliction  of  a  like  injury, 

*  Ex.  xxii.  28;  I  Sam.  xxiv.  7  f.;  xxii.  17;  I  Kings  xx.  35. 
^  Gen.  xxiv.  49;  xlvii.  29.        *  Gen.  iv.  10;  xlii.  22. 
^  Gen.  ix.  6;  xxvii.  45.  ^  Ex.  xxi.  14. 

lOI 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

"  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth." " 
Stealing  a  man  to  enslave  him  was  punish- 
able with  death/  Adultery,  or  violation  of 
a  betrothed  maiden,  was  an  invasion  of 
the  property  of  the  husband,  and  as  such 
was  an  offense  against  Yahweh.^  Seduc- 
tion of  an  unbetrothed  girl  was  an  invasion 
of  the  property  of  her  father,  and  must  be 
compensated/  Prostitution  was  an  accepted 
institution,  that,  as  we  have  seen  above, 
was  taken  under  the  protection  of  religion. 
It  brought  no  disgrace  to  the  women  who 
followed  it,  or  to  the  men  who  associated 
with  them/  It  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  a  female  slave  or  captive  should 
become  the  concubine  of  her  master.  Steal- 
ing was  forbidden.^  Injuries  to  property, 
whether  in  animals  or  in  agricultural  pro- 

*  Ex.  xxi.  18-32.  •  Ex.  xxi.  16. 

»  Gen.  xii.  14-19;  xx.  3-8;  xxvi.  8-11;  xxxix.  7-12;  Ex.  xx. 

14;  II  Sam.  xii.  14. 

*  Gen.  xxxiv.  7;  Ex.  xxii.  16. 

^  Gen.  xxxviii.  15  f.;  Judg.  xvi.  i,  4. 
®  Ex.  xxii.  i;  xx.  15. 

102 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

duce,  must  be  compensated.'  Truthfulness, 
justice  and  impartiality  in  dealing  with 
fellow-Israelites  were  commanded ""  and  vio- 
lation of  an  oath  was  severely  punished.^ 
Even  enemies  were  to  be  helped,  if  they 
were  in  trouble/ 

Toward  dependents  and  inferiors  the 
Hebrew  legislation  was  peculiarly  favor- 
able. The  conception  of  Yahweh  as  a  merci- 
ful God  who  had  redeemed  his  people  from 
Egypt  led  early  Israel  more  than  any  other 
ancient  nation  to  believe  that  kindness  to 
the  helpless  was  well-pleasing  in  his  sight. 
Those  in  authority  were  required  to  be  just 
to  the  poor  and  inaccessible  to  bribes.^  It 
was  forbidden  to  take  interest  of  a  debtor, 
or  to  retain  his  outer  garment  as  a  pledge.^ 
The  natural  yield  of  land  that  lay  fallow  in 
the  seventh  year  was  to  be  left  for  the  poor.^ 

*  Ex.  xxi.  33-xxii.  13.  *  Ex.  xxiii.  1-3. 
»  Gen.  xxxi.  49;  I  Sam.  xx.  23,  42;  II  Sam.  xxi.  i. 

*  Ex.  xxiii.  4  f .  "  Ex.  xxii.  25-27. 
'  Ex.  xxiii.  6-8.  ^  Ex.  xxiii.  11. 

103 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

When  a  Hebrew  had  been  enslaved  for 
debt,  he  was  to  be  set  free  in  the  seventh 
year '  and  a  female  slave  that  had  been  taken 
as  a  concubine  might  not  be  sold,  but  must 
be  treated  as  a  wife  or  set  free/  Killing  a 
slave  was  punishable  with  death,  and  maim- 
ing must  be  compensated  by  giving  him  his 
freedom/  When  there  was  no  son  in  the 
family,  a  slave  inherited  the  estate/  Oppres- 
sion of  the  widow  or  the  fatherless  was  pe- 
culiarly hateful  to  Yahweh/  Hospitality  to- 
ward strangers  was  a  duty  inherited  from  the 
nomadic  period/  This  went  so  far  that  Lot 
felt  constrained  to  give  up  his  two  daugh- 
ters to  save  his  guests  from  assault/  Justice 
and  kindness  toward  aliens  were  required/ 
Even  kindness  to  animals  was  enjoined/ 

^  Ex.  xxi.  1-6.  *  Gen.  xv.  3. 

2  Ex.  xxi.  7-1 1.  ^  Ex.  xxii.  22. 

'  Ex.  xxi.  20  f.,  26  f. 

^  Gen.  xviii.  2  f.;  xix.  2  f.;  xxiv.  24  ff.;  Judg.  xix.  20. 

^  Gen.  xix.  8;  cf.  Judg.  xix.  24. 

®  Gen.  XX.  11;  xlii.  18;  Ex.  xxii.  21;  xxiii.  9, 

•  Ex.  XX.  10;  xxiii.  5,  11  f. 

104 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

As  among  the  nomadic  Bedawin,  these 
rules  of  conduct  applied  only  to  relations 
with  fellow-Israelites.  In  dealing  with  for- 
eigners lying,  cheating,  and  violence  were 
not  condemned,  Abraham's  lie  to  Pharaoh 
and  Abimelech,'  and  Jacob's  defrauding  of 
Esau  and  Laban^  were  not  blamed,  and 
Yahweh  was  represented  as  helping  the  of- 
fender against  the  injured  party.  Yahweh 
himself  commanded  the  Israelites  to  spoil 
the  Egyptians  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus.* 
In  war  the  ancient  Hebrews  were  as  cruel 
as  all  the  other  Semites  ;  ^  and,  as  we  saw 
above,  extermination  of  a  hostile  people  was 
regarded  as  an  act  of  homage  to  Yahweh. 

Of  such  virtues  as  modesty,  temperance, 
and  other  forms  of  self-restraint  the  early 
Israelite  had  little  conception.  Gross  ex- 
cesses, such  as  bestiality  and  sodomy,  were 

1  Gen.  xii.  lo  ff.;  xx.  2  if. 

*  Gen.  xxvii.  5  flf.;  xxxi.  i  ff. 
8  Ex.  xii.  35  ff. 

*  Gen.  xxxiv.  25  ff.;  I  Sam.  xxvii.  8  f.;  II  Sam.  viii.  2. 

105 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

indeed  condemned  ; '  but  in  general  there 
was  no  restraint  upon  sexual  excess  on  the 
part  of  the  man,  though  the  woman  was 
carefully  guarded.  Drunkenness  was  not  a 
disgrace/  The  suicide  of  a  wounded  war- 
rior was  regarded  as  honorable.' 

To  those  who  kept  Yahweh's  command- 
ments he  promised  that  their  days  should 
be  long  upon  the  land  which  he  gave  them/ 
that  their  bread  and  their  water  should  be 
blessed,  and  sickness  should  be  kept  away 
from  them,  that  none  should  cast  their 
young  or  be  barren,  that  all  their  enemies 
should  be  defeated  before  them,  and  their 
border  should  be  widely  extended.^  Those 
who  broke  his  commandments  were  threat- 
ened with  sudden  death,^  with  loss  of  chil- 
dren and  property,  with  sickness,  misfor- 

^  Ex.  xxii.  19;  Gen.  xix.  5  f.,  13;  Judg^  xix.  22  f. 

*  Gen.  ix.  21  ff.;  xliii.  34;  I  Sam.  i.  13;  II  Sam.  xi.  13. 
'  Judg.  ix.  54;  I  Sam.  xxxi.  4. 

*  Ex.  XX.  12.  ^  Ex.  xxiii.  25-31. 

®  Gen.  xxxviii.  7  f.;  I  Sam.  vi.  19  ff.;  xxv.  39;  II  Sam.vi. 
6ff. 

106 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

tune,  and  invasion  by  enemies.'  Nowhere 
in  pre-exilic  literature  is  any  reward  of 
virtue  or  punishment  of  sin  anticipated  in  a 
future  life.  As  we  saw  above,  Sheol  stood 
outside  of  the  authority  of  Yahweh,  and  the 
dead  were  themselves  gods  with  whom  he 
had  no  dealings.  The  sinner  who  went 
down  to  Sheol  was  safe  from  his  direct  ven- 
geance. The  only  way  in  which  he  could 
now  be  reached  was  through  his  children. 
If  they  were  cut  off,  his  spirit  would  be 
deprived  of  the  offerings  that  were  neces- 
sary for  its  repose. 

In  punishing  sin  Yahweh  dealt  with  men 
collectively.  As  an  inheritance  from  primi- 
tive Semitic  times  the  early  Hebrews  had 
a  singularly  strong  sense  of  the  solidarity  of 
the  clan.  It  was  considered  natural  and 
proper  to  put  a  man's  relatives  to  death  for 
his  offense.*  In  like  manner  Yahweh  visited 

*  Gen.  xliv.  i6;  Judg.  ix.  56  f.;  II  Sam.  xvi.  8. 
^  I  Sam.  xxii.  i,  3  f.;  xxii.  16;   xxv.  22;  II  Sam.  xxi.  6 
ff.;  II  Kings  ix.  26. 

107 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

the  penalty  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
dren, upon  the  third  and  the  fourth  genera- 
tion of  them  that  hated  him/ 

If  a  man  committed  a  deliberate  offense, 
he  was  of  course  aware  of  his  guilt,  but 
frequently  the  sin  was  unconscious,  and 
was  known  only  from  its  consequences. 
When  misfortune  befell  either  the  nation 
or  an  individual,  this  was  taken  as  a  sign 
that  one  of  Yahweh's  commandments  had 
been  broken,  and  an  effort  was  made  by 
inquiry  through  a  priest  or  a  prophet  to  as- 
certain the  cause  of  his  displeasure.  Thus 
the  defeat  of  Israel  at  Ai  was  found  to  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  Achan  had  violated  the 
ban.^  The  failure  of  Saul  to  obtain  a  favor- 
able oracle  was  because  Jonathan  had  bro- 
ken the  taboo  on  f  ood.^  The  pestilence  that 

*  Ex.  XX.  5;  cf.  Gen.  ix.  24;  xii.  17;  xx.  18;  Ex.  xii.  29; 

xvii.  16;  Num.  xvi.  27  ff.;  Josh.  vii.  24;  I  Sam.  11.  31;  II 
Sam.  iii.  29;  xii.  10,  14  f.;  I  Kings  xi.  11  f.;  xiv.  10;  xvi.  3; 
xxi.  21. 

*  Josh.  vii.  II  f. 

I    '  I  Sam.  xiv.  36  ff. 

108 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

visited  Jerusalem  was  in  consequence  of 
David's  having  numbered  the  people.'  The 
famine  in  the  reign  of  David  was  a  punish- 
ment for  SauPs  killing  of  the  Gibeonites.* 

When  the  sin  was  known,  the  next  ques- 
tion was  how  to  placate  the  wrath  of 
Yahweh.  In  certain  cases  confession  and 
entreaty  for  pardon  were  sufficient.  Thus 
when  David  says,  "  I  have  sinned  against 
Yahweh,''  the  prophet  Nathan  replies, 
"Yahweh  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin;  thou 
shalt  not  die."  ^  The  intercession  of  a  priest 
or  a  prophet  helped  to  secure  such  forgive- 
ness.^ In  other  cases  some  sort  of  a  sacrifice 
was  demanded  before  the  divine  favor  could 
be  regained.^  This  sacrifice  was  the  ordi- 
nary burnt 'offering  or  peace  offering:  the 
special  sin  offering  and  guilt  offering  had 
not  yet  been  developed.  At   other  times 

*  II  Sam.  xxiv.  15.  *  II  Sam.  xii.  13. 

*  II  Sam.  xxi.  i. 

*  Gen.  XX.  7;  Ex.  xxxii.  32;  I  Sam.  ii.  25. 
^  I  Sam.  xxvi.  19;  II  Sam.  xxiv.  18  f. 

109 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

Yah  weh  accepted  no  propitiation,  and  would 
not  turn  away  his  wrath  from  the  nation 
until  the  offender  was  destroyed.'  In  the 
case  of  Jonathan  a  substitute  was  provided, 
when  he  had  incurred  the  death  penalty/ 
Where  the  offender  died  unpunished,  his 
children  were  put  to  death  in  his  place.^ 

The  only  eschatology  that  was  known  in 
this  period  was  the  belief  that  Yahweh  had 
destined  Israel  to  a  career  of  conquest  and 
prosperity  in  the  earth/  In  II  Sam,  vii. 
1 2-16  the  hope  of  the  future  is  connected 
with  the  permanence  of  the  house  of  David, 
but  there  is  no  suggestion  yet  of  the  appear- 
ance of  an  individual  Messiah.  From  Amos 
V.  18-20  it  appears  that  the  doctrine  of  a 
"  day  of  Yahweh,'^  i.  e.,  a  turning-point  in 
history  when  Yahweh  would  give  Israel 
victory  over  all  its  enemies,  was  already 

*  E.  g.,  Ex.  xxxii.  27;  Num.  xxv.  1-4;  Josh.  vii.  25. 

*  I  Sam.  xiv.  45. 

*  II  Sam.  xxi.  1-9. 

*  Gen.  xii.  2  f.;  xv.  18-21;  Num.  xxiii.-xxiv. 

JIG 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

established  in  pre-prophetic  times,  but  this 
conception  had  no  ethical  or  religious 
value. 

The  eschatology  of  the  individual  was 
unaffected  by  early  Yahwism.  All  the  ani- 
mistic conceptions  held  by  the  primitive 
Semites  were  incorporated  bodily  into  the 
Hebrew  religion,  and  remained  unchanged 
down  to  the  times  of  the  prophets.  The 
Babylonian  doctrine  of  Sheol  that  was  cur- 
rent in  Canaan  was  also  adopted,  and  su- 
perimposed upon  the  ancient  belief  in  spirits. 
The  religion  of  Yahweh  had  nothing  new 
to  teach  upon  this  subject;  it  simply  left 
the  ancient  beliefs  undisturbed  and  unas- 
similated.  Death  was  not  regarded  as  a  go- 
ing to  God,  but  as  a  passing  out  of  the 
realm  of  his  love  and  care.  Even  the  right- 
eous Hezekiah  is  represented  as  saying, "  I 
shall  go  unto  the  gates  of  Sheol.  ...  I 
shall  not  see  Yahweh  in  the  land  of  the  liv- 
ing. ..  .  They  that  go  down  into  the  Pit 
III 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

cannot  hope  for  thy  faithfulness." '  Worship 
of  necessity  ceased  when  one  entered  that 
land :  ''  In  death  there  is  no  remembrance  of 
thee ;  in  Sheol  who  shall  give  thee  thanks  " ;  * 
Sheol  cannot  praise  thee,  Death  cannot  cele- 
brate thee.  .  .  .  The  living,  the  living,  he 
shall  praise  thee,  as  I  do  this  day.''  ^  These 
passages  are  all  late,  still  they  express  ac- 
curately the  feeling  of  the  period  under 
discussion.  Existence  in  Sheol  was  dark, 
dreary,  and  shadowy;  and  therefore  death 
seemed  an  unmixed  evil.  The  one  desire 
of  the  ancient  Hebrew  was  that  he  might 
live  long  in  the  land,  enjoy  peace  and  pros- 
perity, and  have  numerous  descendants. 
His  hope  never  extended  into  the  other 
world.  The  conception  of  God  needed  to 
be  deepened  and  broadened  immensely  be- 
fore an  adequate  idea  of  immortality  could 
be  formed. 

*  Isa.  xxxviii.  lO  f.,  i8;  cf.  Ps.  Ixxxviii.  4. 

*  Ps.  vi.  5.  ^  Isa.  xxxviii.  18  f. 

112 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

From  the  foregoing  sketch  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Israel  in  the  period  of  the  early 
monarchy  it  appears  that  its  conception  of 
God  and  his  requirements  had  many  noble 
elements  that  made  it  a  real  preparation  for 
the  teaching  of  the  prophets  and  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Yahweh  was  not  the  only  God,  but 
he  was  the  greatest  god,  and  was  the  only 
one  that  might  be  worshiped.  He  was  not 
transcendent,  omnipresent,  and  omnipotent; 
but  he  was  a  spiritual  being,  supremely  ex- 
alted above  nature  and  man.  He  was  not 
perfect  in  righteousness,  but  kindness  and 
faithfulness  were  his  main  characteristics. 
His  thought  and  effort  were  constantly  ex- 
erted for  the  good  of  his  people,  and  he 
could  be  depended  upon  for  help  in  time  of 
need.  His  chief  requirements  were  sacri- 
fice and  holy  days;  nevertheless,  all  the 
fundamental  forms  of  morality  were  obliga- 
tions to  him.  Even  in  its  pre-prophetic 
stage  this  religion  was  vastly  superior  to 
113 


; 


THE  EARLY  RELIGION  OF  ISRAEL 

the  other  religions  of  antiquity.  That  of 
Egypt,  of  Babylonia,  or  of  any  other  early 
Semitic  race  seems  degraded  in  comparison 
with  it.  It  was  a  worthy  foundation  for  the 
more  spiritual  and  ethical  message  of  the 
prophets,  just  as  their  message  was  a 
foundation  for  the  gospel  of  Jesus;  and 
therefore  it  must  be  regarded  as  an  integral 
part  of  God's  revelation  of  himself  • 

Nevertheless,  the  numerous  excellences 
of  this  early  faith  should  not  blind  us  to  the 
fact  that  it  contained  survivals  of  primitive 
Semitic  and  Canaanite  heathenism  that 
could  not  at  once  be  eliminated.  Yahweh 
triumphed  over  the  ba^als  and  the  other 
gods  by  absorbing  them.  All  their  attri- 
butes, activities,  sacred  objects,  holy  places, 
altars,  ritual,  feasts,  and  sacred  traditions 
were  appropriated  by  him;  and  the  result 
was  that  evil  came  into  his  religion  along 
with  good.  His  victory  over  his  rivals  was 
purchased  at  the  cost  of  a  mixture  of  his 
114 


PERIOD  OF  THE  EARLY  MONARCHY 

worship  with  all  sorts  of  alien  elements, 
just  as  the  victory  of  Christianity  over  the 
Graeco-Roman  world  was  purchased  at  a 
similar  cost.  When  the  battle  was  won  and 
the  rivals  had  disappeared,  it  became  ap- 
parent that  Yahwism  must  be  purged  of 
much  heathen  contamination  that  it  had 
contracted  in  its  career  of  conquest.  Just  as 
the  Protestant  Reformation  was  necessary 
to  cleanse  the  Church  of  the  heathenism 
that  it  had  absorbed  in  fifteen  centuries,  so 
the  great  prophets  must  appear  to  reform 
the  religion  of  Israel.  The  history  of  their 
conflict  will  be  the  theme  of  another  vol- 
ume in  this  series. 


OF  THE 

UNfVERSITY 

Of 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
U   .   S    .  A 


MODERN 
RELIGIOUS 
PROBLEMS 

Edited  by  REV.  A.  W.  VERNON,  D.  D. 

The  aim  of  this  series  of  books  is  to  lay  before 
the  great  body  of  intelligent  people  in  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking world  the  precise  results  of  modern 
scholarship,  so  that  men  both  within  and  without 
the  churches  may  be  able  to  understand  the  con- 
ception of  the  Christian  religion  (and  of  its  Sacred 
Books)  which  obtains  among  its  leading  scholars 
to-day,  and  that  they  may  intelligently  cooperate 
in  the  great  practical  problems  with  which  the 
churches  are  now  confronted. 

THE  BOOKS  PUBLISHED  THUS  FAR  ARE : 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  JESUS 

By  G.  W.  KNOX 
With  General  Introduction  to  the  Series 

"  Admirably  written."  —  Chicago  Record-Herald, 

"  It  is  surprising  how  much  clear  thinking  and  compact 

information   Professor  Knox  has   put  into  his  hundred 

pages."  —  Independent, 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  CO. 


MODERN  RELIGIOUS  PROBLEMS 

Continued 


SIN  AND  ITS 
FORGIVENESS 

By  WILLIAM  DeWITT  HYDE 

"  No  exposition  of  a  theological  doctrine  has  ever  brought 
a  deep  subject  more  into  touch  with  real  life  than  Presi- 
dent Hyde's  admirable  discussion."  —  Independent, 

"  It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  it  is  an  interesting, 
very  readable  book  and  earnestly  recommended  to  every 
one."  —  Boston  Transcript, 

THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE 
CHURCH 

By  BENJAMIN  W.  BACON 

"  Like  all  of  Dr.  Bacon's  work,  is  thoroughly  done." 

Hartford  Courant. 

"  The  sanest  and  most  comprehensive  statement  of  the 
Christian  religion."  —  Si.  Louis  Globe-Democrat, 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  CO. 


MODERN  RELIGIOUS  PROBLEMS 

Continued 


HISTORICAL  AND 
RELIGIOUS  VALUE  OF 
THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL 

By  E.  F.  SCOTT 

"  Sets  forth  clearly  its  surpassing  worth  as  devotional 
literature."  —  Christian  Register. 

"  Professor  Scott  has  admirably  succeeded  in  presenting 
such  a  difficult  problem  so  clearly ;  and  he  brings  to  the 
reader  a  report  from  a  wide  field  without  confusion.  .  .  . 
It  is  a  clear,  interesting,  sympathetic  study  of  a  great 
problem."  —  Boston  Transcript, 

THE  EARLIEST  SOURCES 
FOR  THE  LIFE  OF  JESUS 

By  F.  C.  BURKITT 

"A  brief  and  frank  discussion  of  the  Gospel  stories." 

Philadelphia  Press, 

"This  little  volume  is  really  a  monument  of  Biblical 
learning,  and  it  is  only  just  to  the  author  to  say  that  his 
scholarly  investigation  of  the  entire  subject  helps  to 
strengthen  Christian  faith."  —  Rochester  Post  Express, 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  CO. 


MODERN  RELIGIOUS  PROBLEMS 

Continued 


THE  CHURCH  AND 
LABOR 

By  CHARLES  STELZLE 

"  Mr.  Stelzle's  *  The  Church  and  Labor  *  signalizes  one 
of  the  most  vital  rapprochements  in  the  moral  life  of  to- 
day, and  it  is  an  important  and  enduring  document  in  the 
present-day  stage  of  American  history."  —  Robert  A, 
IVoods,  South  End  House ^  Boston, 

"  Of  unusual  interest  and  worth  is  the  study  of  *  The 
Church  and  Labor.*  ...  It  shows  us  social  facts  and  forces 
as  they  are  seen  in  the  light  of  the  harmonizing  and 
redeeming  spirit  of  Christianity.'*  —  Chicago  Record- 
Herald* 

PAUL  AND  PAULINISM 

By  JAMES  MOFFATT 

"  Deals  comprehensively  with  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
and  his  teaching  as  revealed  in  the  epistles  attributed  to 
him.**  —  Philadelphia  Press, 

"  It  is  brief,  it  is  luminous,  and  it  has  distinction  and 
charm  of  style.**  —  Chicago  Record-Herald. 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  CO. 


